Shenzhen dented by industry shift
Chiwan, part of the Shenzhen cluster
The industrial shift to central China from Guangdong province and other coastal locations is impacting on Shenzhen’s status as a major international port and threatening throughput volumes.
The relocation to the interior has contributed to Shenzhen being the mainland’s worst performing major port last year, according to an article in South China Morning Post. Container throughput rose only 0.27% to 22.57m teu, by contrast, Shanghai’s container throughput increased 9.2% to 31.74m teu.
David Lammie of Yangtze Business Services told Port Strategy that Shenzhen mostly serves manufacturers in Guangdong province, and many of these are relatively low-tech or low-value-added companies, drawn there initially because of low wages. “As wages have risen in the coastal areas and labour shortages have arisen - Guangdong is very dependent on migrant labour - many factories have moved to other parts of China or even other countries elsewhere in Asia,” he said.
Mr Lammie added: “This trend, along with the global economic downturn that has impacted overseas demand for Chinese goods, has hit Shenzhen relatively hard and explains why Shenzhen, and other coastal ports, is working hard to improve connections with inland cities such as Chongqing that are enjoying some of the fastest GDP and inward investment growth rates in China.”
Therefore Shenzhen is playing to the shift by aggressively building rail links to the interior to transport containerised cargo. It currently has 15 container rail connections to cities such as Chongqing and Kunming. This year it will open two new container rail lines, one to Xian, capital of Shaanxi province, and the other to Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province.
However, it seems Shenzhen’s container rail business is now challenged by a direct rail link between Chongqing and Europe that has been operating for the past year.
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