China Maritime Research Articles

Enterprise digitization and marine economic performance: An empirical study of listed enterprises in China's maritime economy.

The scale and connectivity of marine resources make them more complex than land resource management. Although digitization has been recognized as an organizational change process that can effectively improve resource efficiency and enhance network resilience, however, gaps remain in establishing the theoretical links between digitization and marine economic performance. Based on a panel fixed-effects model, this study evaluates the interrelationships and potential mechanisms of different firms with data from annual reports of listed firms in the marine economy in the eastern coastal region of China. The results indicate that there is a 'U-shaped' relationship between digitalization and enterprise efficiency in the maritime sector, and significant heterogeneity exists in the characteristics of these enterprises. Notably, firms' technological innovation capability can modulate the 'U-shaped' relationship through the interaction of economies of scale and economies of scope. This paper highlights how digitization mitigates the fragmentation and sectionalization of marine information and addresses the digital overload and productivity paradox that firms may face in the early stages of digitization. The study suggests that institutional diversity shapes resilience. Governments need to promote top-down regulation and industry collaboration, while marine enterprises need to coevolve collaboratively with them through bottom-up internal communication and external interaction to enhance the value chain of marine enterprises.

MAKG: A maritime accident knowledge graph for intelligent accident analysis and management

With the increasing frequency of human activities at sea, maritime accidents are occurring more often. Analyzing and mining maritime accident cases can help uncover the causal mechanisms behind these incidents, thereby enhancing maritime safety. As an emerging technology for knowledge management and mining, knowledge graphs offer significant support for the storage, reasoning, and decision-making processes related to maritime accidents.In this study, we established a knowledge graph construction and application framework for maritime accidents to facilitates the extraction and management of maritime knowledge from unstructured texts. First, 581 accident reports released by the China Maritime Safety Administration over the past decade (2014–2023) were used as the data basis for analysis and construction of the maritime accident ontology structure using the seven-step method, which comprises 8 entity types, 8 relationship types, and 18 attribute entity types. Second, We proposed MBERT-BiLSTM-CRF-SF, a named entity recognition model based on domain pretraining and self-training, to reduce graph construction costs. This model achieved state-of-the-art performance in the maritime domain, with an F1 score of 0.910 ± 0.006, which is about 5% higher than the mainstream model. In addition, we proposed an entity alignment method based on font and semantics to refine knowledge further. On the basis of the proposed method, we constructed a large, high-quality maritime accident knowledge graph (MAKG) system that contains 16,099 entities and 20,809 relationship instances. Finally, we reduced the complexity of applying knowledge graphs by integrating the CRISPE prompt learning framework of the large language model, and experiments on graph traversal, pattern recognition, and aggregation analysis were conducted to assess the quality of MAKG. Results demonstrate that MAKG can effectively enhance the efficiency of querying and reasoning about maritime accident information, thus providing significant support for the prevention and management of maritime accidents.

Improvement of the Carrier Delivery Rules in China's Maritime Law from an International Perspective

This paper examines the impact of carrier delivery rules on China's Maritime Law in the context of international maritime cargo transportation. It identifies significant issues such as the imbalance of interests between carriers and consignees, the challenges in carrier identification, and the inconsistencies in the duration of carrier responsibilities. Drawing on international conventions such as the Hague Rules, Hamburg Rules, and Rotterdam Rules, this study provides comprehensive recommendations for refining China's Maritime Law. Key proposals include improving the legal definitions and criteria for carrier identification, harmonizing liability periods for container and non-container cargo, and strengthening the fulfillment of carrier obligations through robust inspection and supervision mechanisms. These improvements aim to align China's Maritime Law with international standards, enhance the efficiency and reliability of maritime transport, and support the sustainable growth of China's maritime industry. The findings underscore the necessity for ongoing legal reforms to maintain China's competitive edge in global maritime trade.

Analyzing risk influencing factors of ship collision accidents: A data-driven Bayesian network model integrating physical knowledge

The interaction and propagation effects among risk-influencing factors (RIFs) often lead to maritime accidents. Therefore, to support maritime risk management in decision-making, it is imperative to conduct a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) of these accidents, which requires a methodology capable of capturing causal relationships in limited cases. To achieve this goal, this study proposes a data-driven Bayesian network (BN) model that integrates physical knowledge with the QRA. Based on the collected data, a combination of domain knowledge, structure learning, and parameter learning is employed to construct the model. In the data-driven phase, three structural learning algorithms including Bayesian search (BS), Greedy thick thinning (GTT), and Peter-Clark (PC) algorithms, were used in combination with the expectation maximization algorithm of parameter learning. Then, using four indices calculated by the confusion matrix, the most fitting algorithm for structure learning was chosen, and the confusion matrix was obtained by five-fold cross-validation. Finally, network propagation impact (NPI) is introduced to prioritize RIFs. Preventive measures and emergency plans are formulated based on the network resilience metric (NRM) and network vulnerability metric (NVM). This approach leverages the objectivity of a data-driven BN and integrates domain expertise to enhance model validity. A case study of collisions was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the model. The data were sourced from 327 collision accident reports provided by the China Maritime Safety Administration, and the PC algorithm was chosen. Findings indicate that the “Management system”, “Supervision”, and “Crew training” RIFs are prioritized for preventive measures, whereas “Communication” receives more resources for emergency handling. The results suggest the formulation of risk management strategies for practitioners to improve maritime safety.

China's Legal Governance Approaches toward Safeguarding Its Maritime Rights and Interests

Ocean development is crucial for modern states, and the importance of safeguarding and developing ocean rights and interests is becoming increasingly apparent. Economic development relies on the ocean, as does national sovereignty, security, and interests. In addition, national political and military development also depends on the ocean. China has long been committed to safeguarding its own ocean rights and interests, while also actively promoting the development of the international legal order for the ocean. In terms of international legislation, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea provides a legal basis for safeguarding ocean rights and interests and plays a regulatory role in the maintenance of maritime rights and interests for all states. In terms of domestic legislation, many ocean laws in China play an important role in safeguarding China's maritime security and ocean rights and interests. As an important part of the legal system for safeguarding ocean rights and interests, maritime law enforcement has practical significance in the application of national jurisdiction at sea. China's maritime law enforcement, centered on safeguarding ocean rights and interests, is carried out by the reorganized China Coast Guard, guided by domestic and international legal norms, and strictly combats illegal and criminal activities at sea through international cooperation to protect the sustainable development of marine resources and environment and to safeguard international maritime public security and order while guaranteeing ocean rights and interests. In terms of judicial practice, China has already used legal means to effectively safeguard ocean rights and interests in the areas of marine environmental protection, maritime rights protection, fisheries law enforcement, and maritime traffic safety.

Analyzing ship collision accidents in China: A framework based on the N-K model and Bayesian networks

Maritime accidents are frequent in China, with collisions constituting a significant portion, leading to substantial casualties, financial losses, and environmental harm. Analyzing collision risk is crucial for safe shipping operations, as such accidents arise when multiple risk factors interact beyond certain thresholds. Thus, understanding the coupled relationships among these factors is essential for accident prevention. This study presents a quantitative coupling risk assessment approach for collisions using the N–K model and Bayesian networks (BNs). Through an analysis of 304 accident reports from the China Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA), four primary risk factors (human, ship, environment, and management) are identified. The N–K model quantifies the coupling degree between these factors, while a BN model further elucidates and quantifies the collision risk based on the calculations of N–K model. Validation of the BN model is followed by sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of risk factors on accident occurrence. Subsequently, the method is applied to a case study on collision risk assessment in Chinese waters. Findings indicate that multifactor coupling has a higher occurrence probability than two-factor coupling, with human-ship-environment-management coupling presenting the highest likelihood. Human and management factors emerge as pivotal in collision incidents, while the impact of ship and environmental factors on coupling becomes more pronounced as their probabilities vary. Leveraging the capability of BNs to handle uncertainties and logical relationships, combined with the data-driven N–K model, mitigates subjectivity. The results propose the formulation of risk management strategies and measures for practitioners to enhance maritime safety.

Statistical machine learning models for prediction of China's maritime emergency patients in dynamic: ARIMA model, SARIMA model, and dynamic Bayesian network model.

Rescuing individuals at sea is a pressing global public health issue, garnering substantial attention from emergency medicine researchers with a focus on improving prevention and control strategies. This study aims to develop a Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBN) model utilizing maritime emergency incident data and compare its forecasting accuracy to Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) and Seasonal Auto-regressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) models. In this research, we analyzed the count of cases managed by five hospitals in Hainan Province from January 2016 to December 2020 in the context of maritime emergency care. We employed diverse approaches to construct and calibrate ARIMA, SARIMA, and DBN models. These models were subsequently utilized to forecast the number of emergency responders from January 2021 to December 2021. The study indicated that the ARIMA, SARIMA, and DBN models effectively modeled and forecasted Maritime Emergency Medical Service (EMS) patient data, accounting for seasonal variations. The predictive accuracy was evaluated using Mean Absolute Error (MAE), Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), and Coefficient of Determination (R 2) as performance metrics. In this study, the ARIMA, SARIMA, and DBN models reported RMSE of 5.75, 4.43, and 5.45; MAE of 4.13, 2.81, and 3.85; and R 2 values of 0.21, 0.54, and 0.44, respectively. MAE and RMSE assess the level of difference between the actual and predicted values. A smaller value indicates a more accurate model prediction. R 2 can compare the performance of models across different aspects, with a range of values from 0 to 1. A value closer to 1 signifies better model quality. As errors increase, R 2 moves further from the maximum value. The SARIMA model outperformed the others, demonstrating the lowest RMSE and MAE, alongside the highest R 2, during both modeling and forecasting. Analysis of predicted values and fitting plots reveals that, in most instances, SARIMA's predictions closely align with the actual number of rescues. Thus, SARIMA is superior in both fitting and forecasting, followed by the DBN model, with ARIMA showing the least accurate predictions. While the DBN model adeptly captures variable correlations, the SARIMA model excels in forecasting maritime emergency cases. By comparing these models, we glean valuable insights into maritime emergency trends, facilitating the development of effective prevention and control strategies.

Chinese Geoeconomics and Geostrategic Motives in a Changing International Order

This study examines the geoeconomic and geostrategic motives behind China's military base establishment in Djibouti. It examines the motives from a geo-economic perspective, considering the economic interests and opportunities afforded by a military presence in the Horn of Africa. It then discusses the geostrategic motives, looking at the implications for global power dynamics, the militarization of China-Africa development partnerships, the securing of China's oil resources, the facilitation of Chinese peacekeeping forces, the confrontation of terrorist groups, the combating of piracy, and the inauguration of a Maritime Silk Road. Finally, it looks at the implications of China's Maritime Security Strategy as part of its Belt and Road Initiative. This includes the protection of the marine environment, cooperative development goals, maritime security alliances, promotion of knowledge and innovation in the fields of marine science research, and maritime governance.
 The methodology adopted for this paper is qualitative. This involves the analysis of primary and secondary sources to understand the motives behind China's move to establish a military base in Djibouti. Primary sources include official Chinese documents and statements from Chinese officials. Secondary sources include news reports, scholarly articles, and think tank reports. This analysis was conducted through a literature review of these sources. The literature was then analyzed to conclude China's motives for establishing a military base in Djibouti.

Delay in Delivery of Goods under the Contract of Carriage by Sea in the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015: A Comparative Approach

Delivery of the goods is the carrier’s obligation under a contract for the carriage of goods by sea, which is stipulated in international conventions and national laws. Delay in delivery of goods could lead to disputes between the carriers and cargo interests if the carriers’ liability is not regulated explicitly by the laws and the contract. This paper concentrates on analyzing the regulations of delay in delivery of goods and the carrier’s liability in the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015, compared with the Hamburg Rules 1978, the Rotterdam Rules 2008, and the China Maritime Code 1992, finding the shortcomings of these regulations in the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015, and suggesting the proper amendments. The article employs the applied legal research method and the comparative legal research method to examine: i) the definition of delay in delivery of goods; ii) the liability of the carrier and the limitation of liability for the delay in delivery; iii) notice of loss resulting from delay in delivery. Based on the results of the examination, the article presents the shortcomings of the particular regulations in terms of these matters in the Vietnam Maritime Code 2015, suggests five amendments, and supports Vietnam in ratifying the Rotterdam Rules 2008.

The Reasons and Influence of the Establishment of One Port Trade System in Guangzhou during Qing Dynasty

Guangzhou is located in the southern part of China, near the South China Sea, belongs to Guangdong Province. It serves as China's southern gateway to the world and was historically called "The Southern Treasure of the Emperor", playing a crucial role in China's maritime trade history. Throughout Chinese history, Guangzhou underwent several cycles of "closure" and "opening", policies that severely impacted trade. However, foreign merchants never ceased to request permission from the Chinese government to engage in trade. In 1757, Emperor Qianlong decreed Guangzhou as the only one official port for foreign trade. This edict led to the establishment of the one port trading system in Guangzhou, as the Qing government aimed to counter foreign influences and local uprisings while maintaining a self-sufficient small-scale agricultural economy. Western nations and their traders sought opportunities within this system, aspiring to expand trade to other regions of China, even the inland areas. The exclusive status of Guangzhou as China's only one trading port persisted until 1842, following the defeat of the Qing government in the Opium War against Britain, the Nanjing Treaty was signed. This treaty opened Guangzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Xiamen as trading ports, bringing an end to the one port trading system. The reasons and impacts of the establishment of this system have not been comprehensively analyzed to date. Therefore, this paper based on historical archives, analyzes both the direct and underlying reasons behind Emperor Qianlong's decision and elucidates the system's diverse impacts on various aspects of Qing-era China.

Graphic Modeling of Chinese Marine Folk Art

Chinese marine folk art modeling is a broad and diverse field, with different forms and styles of expression in different regions. The so-called flat modeling is a two-dimensional plane work composed of two elements, length and width, created by folk artists in coastal areas, whose expressive themes and modeling styles are related to the sea. These works usually depict themes such as marine life, fishermen's life, marine legends and myths, marine flora and fauna, etcetera, and use traditional craft techniques such as painting, embroidery and paper-cutting, which preserves the simplicity and primitive charms of folk art. While exhibiting China's maritime culture, these works also reflect the attitudes and aesthetic concepts of the people of China's coastal areas.

Evaluation of China's maritime power construction index and policy textual analysis

PurposeThis research establishes an evaluation index system and calculation method for the China's maritime power construction index (CMPCI). It has conducted practical tests on the progress of China's maritime power construction since the 12th–13th Five-Year Plans. This paper conducts a phased study on the construction of China's maritime power based on the CMPCI evaluation results; it expands the relevant achievements in the research field of quantitative research in China's maritime power construction. The verification results are consistent with the actual situation.Design/methodology/approachFully reflect the guiding role of national marine policies in the new development stage, guide the transformation of China's marine management model. The CMPCI is a quantitative evaluation of the overall development level of China's maritime power construction over a certain period of time. The CMPCI in this article aims to comprehensively reflect the changes in the construction of China's maritime power, strives to cover various fields it encompasses. This study focuses on objective statistical data analysis, supplemented by multisource data, to objectively and fairly measure the level of CMPCI.FindingsOriginality/valueIt fully reflects the highlights of marine science and technology, social democracy and strategic emerging industries. This research dynamically quantifies the trajectory of China's maritime power construction, synthetic reflecting the country's macroeconomic policy guiding function. Guiding the transformation of the marine resources utilization, marine economy development, marine scientific research and marine rights and interests maintenance and effectively serving the decision-making needs of the government.

Spatial risk assessment of maritime transportation in offshore waters of China using machine learning and geospatial big data

Maritime transportation plays a crucial role in global trade and economic development. However, this industry is exposed to various risks (e.g., natural disasters), which can cause significant economic and environmental damage. This study aims to develop a spatial risk assessment approach for maritime transportation using machine learning and geospatial big data to identify potential risks in China's maritime transportation industry. The proposed approach first produces risk maps that reveal significant variability in maritime transportation risks across different regions of China. Then, factor importance analysis identifies wave height, rainfall, and sea surface temperature as the most influential factors affecting navigational safety. Finally, capability indicators are employed to analyze the matching relationship between coastal search and rescue resources and maritime transportation risks. Our study provides valuable references for enhancing maritime emergency response capabilities and protecting marine ecological environments.

Research and Practice of Mixed Online and Offline Marine English Teaching Strategies for Social Students

As the main practitioners of maritime industry, social trainees are the main practitioners of China's maritime power strategy. Maritime English, as the official language of maritime practitioners, is an important means of efficient communication and exchange among maritime practitioners from all over the world. In the context of the post pandemic, online teaching methods have injected new vitality into continuing education, and blended online and offline teaching has become an important content of teaching reform. This article takes the online and offline blended teaching of maritime English for social students as the main entry point, and proposes teaching optimization practical strategies from various aspects such as course teaching theory foundation, teaching design, and integration of course ideological and political points. Practice has proven that this teaching strategy can stimulate students' learning enthusiasm and effectively improve learning effectiveness.

Strongman politics and China's foreign policy actors: maritime assertiveness under Xi Jinping

Abstract Since Xi Jinping's ascension to power, China's foreign policy behaviour—including in the maritime domain—has become increasingly assertive. While a number of systemic, domestic and individual-level factors have contributed to China's more muscular approach, adequately understanding the dramatic intensification of its assertiveness under Xi requires a careful examination of the foreign policy implications of his strongman rule. This article contributes to such studies by examining how Xi's efforts to consolidate power, particularly through nationalistic appeals and an anti-corruption campaign, have mobilized China's foreign policy actors. I argue that the political environment that Xi has fostered shapes the career incentives of individual actors, motivating them to demonstrate their loyalty through displays of assertiveness. Drawing on a case-study of China's maritime actors, with a focus on their behaviour in the South China Sea, I show how Xi's consolidation of power has elevated the stakes of zealously showcasing support for his call to ‘resolutely safeguard’ China's sovereignty claims. I find that Xi's emphasis on demonstrations of loyalty often comes at the cost of other interests, such as reassuring potential rivals, suggesting that the current political environment risks pushing foreign policy in an even more assertive direction than perhaps intended.

중국의 해상 팽창 과정과 지정학적 함의 – 마오쩌둥부터 시진핑 시기까지 –

중국의 해상 팽창 과정과 지정학적 함의 – 마오쩌둥부터 시진핑 시기까지 –

Oysterman and Refugee

Abstract This article examines the Hong Kong–China maritime border since 1949, when the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the onset of the Cold War turned the 1898 imperial boundary into an ideological line, one that nonetheless remained porous to ties of trade and kinship. It focuses on the oyster-producing communities in the tidelands of the Pearl River estuary, showing how oystermen—some of them also refugees—faced security threats exacerbated by the Cultural Revolution while they also leveraged the borderland’s opportunities. The oyster industries are a case study in two forms of agricultural production: traditional land and labor relations on the Hong Kong coast, and collective agriculture in China’s socialist period, followed by decollectivization in the reform era. By the end of the Mao years in 1976, China’s oyster industry well exceeded that of Hong Kong’s, but both systems were vulnerable to industrial pollution. In the reform era and after, China’s oystermen built upon persistent networks to navigate their position between Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and the Pearl River Delta. The prosperity of the China oysterman, rather than the Hong Kong refugee, illustrates the inversion of the border’s valence from a colonial past to a postsocialist future.

Knowledge graph construction based on ship collision accident reports to improve maritime traffic safety

As an important data source, marine accident investigation reports are frequently used for accident analysis. However, it is hard to extract effective information since key knowledge is normally hidden in large blocks of text. In most cases, the collection of accident-related data is done manually. In this paper, a new knowledge graph construction approach to explore ship collision accidents is proposed, aiming to show the correlation among important factors of the accidents. In this research, 241 investigation reports on ship collision accidents from 2018 to 2021 published on the official website of the China Maritime Safety Administration (CMSA) were collected and analyzed. Then, the ship collision accident ontology module is constructed. According to the ontology information in the accident reports, entities were divided into context-based metadata and content-based metadata, which were used for describing different types of data. To extract the information for the accident report with semi-structured data, an information extraction module based on ontology was proposed. In this process, natural language processing (NLP) was used to obtain text information about the ontology. On this basis, the Ship Collision Accident Knowledge Graph (SCAKG) including 910 entity nodes and 1920 relation edges was constructed and stored in the graph database Neo4j. Finally, two case retrievals were conducted using the SCAKG to show the potential utilization of the method. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of discovering the internal relationship of the accident and could be used to expedite the judicial process, which simplifies the process of marine accident investigation.

Government Guidance Fund Empowers the Supply Chain Financing Decision of Marine Ranching Considering Environmental Enrichment and Friendliness.

The construction of marine ranching is a concrete practice to fulfil the strategic objective of China's maritime power. The shortage of funds has turned into an important issue to be resolved urgently in the modernization of marine ranching. This study constructs a supply chain system, involving a leading enterprise of marine ranching with short funds and a retailer, and introduces the government guidance fund to solve the issue of capital shortage. Then, we discuss the supply chain financing decision under two different power structure modes, and analyze the product environmental attribute (the product's environmental friendliness and the environmental enrichment) and the guiding effect of government investment on the operation of different modes. The research shows that: (1) The wholesale price of products is mainly influenced by the dominant position of the marine ranching leading enterprise. Furthermore, the wholesale price and the marine ranching company's profits increase with the growth of the product environmental attribute. (2) The retailer's profit and the supply chain system's profit are mainly affected by the dominant power of the retailer and are positively correlated with the product environmental attribute. In addition, the supply chain system's overall profits are negatively related to the guiding effect of government investment.

중국 해사책임제한 기금설립 절차문제에 관한 연구

해상책임제한제도는 해상법상 오래된 특유의 제도이다. 기록에 따르면 11세기 『Amalphitan Table』에 등장한 후 점차 해상법의 확립된 법원칙으로 자리 잡고 있다. 비록 각국의 입법 이유는 여러 가지 주장이 있으나 대체로 해당 제도를 통하여 대 자본성과 위험성을 수반하는 해상 기업을 보호함으로써 궁극적으로 자국의 해운업을 장려하고 육성할 필요성에 입각 되어 있다.BR 해상책임제한 기금설립절차는 책임제한제도의 가치를 실현하기 위한 중요한 수단으로서 해당 절차의 원활한 실행을 보장하는 것은 해상 주체의 권리와 의무를 실현하기 위한 불가피한 조건이다. 그러나 해상법의 특성상 외국선박의 섭외적인 요소와 기금설립 절차의 법정지적 요소가 존재한다는 점에서 책임제한 기금설립은 더욱 더 복잡한 문제를 야기한다. 이 문제는 많은 국가와 많은 국가의 해상기업들이 주목하는 문제이기도 하다.BR 중국의 경우, 책임제한 기금설립과 관련하여 해상법, 해사소송특별절차법 및 사법해석이 존재하나, 관련입법들을 살펴 볼 때 기금설립 심사 표준이 모호하고 기금 설립 절차가 복잡하고 시간이 많이 지체되는 등의 문제들이 존재한다.BR 본 문은 이러한 문제점에 입각하여 관련 협약 및 주요 국가들의 입법을 분석함과 동시에 입법의 합리성을 검토하고 현 중국의 현황에 근거하여 대상 문제들에 상응하는 개선안을 내었다.