China Runs a Third of the World’s Busiest Seaports: Supply Lines

China has spent two decades building a globe-spanning port network that offers it commercial reach — and potential strategic leverage.

Chinese companies now own or operate terminals at more than 90 deep-water ports overseas, including 34 of the world’s 100 busiest. Holdings range from Europe’s fifth-largest container port to South America’s first Pacific deep-sea hub capable of handling ultra-large container vessels, and interests in more than one-third of Africa’s commercial ports.

The economic logic is straightforward. China was responsible for about 15% of global merchandise exports in 2024 — and a PwC study estimates that every $1 China invests in ...