Mainland China’s growing international trade has necessitated the development of a large-scale organization to manage and promote international shipping. The merchant marine, Mainland China’s predominant shipping arm, now handles more than 60 percent of the nation’s overseas shipping.
One of the prime purposes of this study is to assess which factors are the most correlative with the development of ocean shipping in Mainland China. Because the main concern of ocean shipping, and hence of the merchant marine, is to be able to administer as large a proportion as possible of foreign trade, a detailed analysis of the structure of foreign trade commodities and of oceangoing vessels currently in use has been conducted. Along these same lines, the efficiency of fleet utilization and the bottle-necks inhibiting further advancement of ocean shipping have been examined.
