Structural Persistence and Topological Resilience of Maritime Corridors: A Case Study of the Intermediary Role of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) comprises the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, and the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province. The GBA serves as China’s strategic maritime hub and a core engine for marine economic development. However, existing research has underexplored the structural connectivity and topological resilience of its port network from the perspective of a maritime corridor within the GBA. Therefore, using port network data from 2022 to 2023, this study identifies the core topological structure of the GBA maritime corridor and examines how resilience evolves under stochastic connection disruptions. The results show that the GBA maritime corridor exhibits an asymmetric cross-shaped backbone structure that connects domestic coastal ports with international markets (Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea). The network density of the GBA port system reaches 0.41258, indicating substantial connectivity that supports efficient regional and global logistics circulation. Regarding resilience level, the probability of connection disruption is the key factor that significantly affects the stability and anti-interference ability of the GBA maritime network. These findings clarify the backbone framework of the maritime corridor for marine economic development, thereby providing theoretical support for strengthening the safety and stability of the GBA maritime transport system.