Overseas Port Investment Policy for China’s Central and Local Governments in the Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a national strategy proposed by China to strengthen globalization and regional economic integration, connecting the country to the world. The BRI will drive China’s ports to expand connectivity through construction and operation along the ‘21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR)’. At the same time, port governance involves central, provincial and local governments engaging in overseas investment and financing in the context of the BRI. Under the double-level governance of the central and local governments, discrepancies, disjointed actions and gaps inevitably arise between the policies launched by the central and local governments. This article evaluates 14 major coastal ports operating with state-level support and overseas investment. 11 evaluation indexes are determined from the existing development conditions of ports and the economic strength of port cities. Fuzzy clustering method is applied to evaluate and classify the development of the coastal ports in China and to develop a reasonable implementation mode of the ‘going global strategy’ of the ports. Consequently, it would help policymakers and stakeholders in China deal with the rivalry of provincial governments, alleviate overseas investment risks and strengthen the foreign port chain management along the MSR.