A COSCO container docks at UAE's Khalifa Port Photo: Courtesy of COSCO Shipping



China's global expansion in the port sector is driven by global market demand, Chinese experts said on Tuesday after the inauguration of another major port invested by China in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).



COSCO Shipping Ports (CSP), a subsidiary of the shipping giant COSCO Shipping, announced the operation of the CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal in UAE's Khalifa Port on Monday, marking a significant achievement of the China-proposed Belt and Road initiative (BRI) and China-UAE cooperation.



Experts said the development showed China's growing network of global port ownership is powering ahead despite rising skepticism in the West over alleged economic security concerns. Such concerns are ungrounded, they said.



Li Weijian, a professor at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said that there is a sense of urgency among countries in the Gulf region to prepare for the time when their oil revenues dry up.



The inauguration of the terminal, which can accommodate 20,000 20-foot equivalent unit (TEU) size container and handle 1.5 million TEUs a year of cargo initially, raised the global ranking of Khalifa Port from the No.89 spot into the top 25.



"The opening of this massive port in the UAE is the result of the country's earlier transformation toward a service-oriented economy and a step ahead in ocean shipping, as a successfully built and nurtured port will make it harder for regional copycats," Li told the Global Times on Tuesday.



Wu Minghua, a Shanghai-based independent shipping industry analyst, said the operation of the port is a key step in COSCO's strategy to boost its strength in shipping services linking Asia and Europe.



"The trade war between China and the US will increase the significance of the Asia-Europe shipping route, which is already a trade artery for China," Wu told the Global Times on Tuesday.



"Although the throughput is unimpressive at the moment, the growth potential of the port is vast as the facility fits into COSCO's global network of 36 ports," Wu said.



CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal is the result of a 35-year agreement between Abu Dhabi Ports and CSP.



COSCO Shipping said it will cooperate with the Abu Dhabi Seaport Authority to raise the throughput of the port and build it into a logistics hub and shipping center serving the Middle East and North Africa. Eventually the goal is to advance it into the largest port in the Middle East, with throughput of 9.1 million TEUs, read a statement sent to the Global Times by COSCO Shipping.



Chinese companies have spent tens of billions of dollars in recent years to purchase stakes in global ports, but this has also raised eyebrows in the West over alleged security concerns.



Li said such comments about the BRI have never ceased, and they reflect more of a loss of confidence in face of rapid advance of BRI around the world, including many regions still considered by the West as its sphere of influence.



"The recognition of partners and the efforts toward win-win development will in time drown out the criticism," Li said.



Wu said concerns over port ownership are ill-informed, and "a diversification of port ownership has been the norm of the global shipping business since at least the 1990s. The ownership change at Europe's ports is market-driven."



"Chinese shipping companies invest in overseas ports because they have clients and cargo demand out there that back up their investment decisions," Wu said.



"Even if the Chinese pull out, Western firms are unlikely to substitute due to market factors."



For instance, about 25 percent of traffic handled by the Port of Rotterdam is related to China, according to the Rotterdam Partners International Trade & Investment.



Wu said that amid rising competition faced by players in the shipping sector, having ownership of ports in key geographic locations is a big factor. That's why Chinese shipping companies have invested actively around the world.