China`s Shipping and Trade

This is an updated and revised edition of an earlier paper published under the title "China's
Open Door and Shipping" in Transport Policy, Management and Technology Towards 2001.
Selected Proceedings of the Fifth World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR),
Yokohama 1989. Vol. III, pp. 557-571
China's Shipping and Trade
by Gunnar K. Sletmo1 and Susanne Holste2
Cahier no 90-002R
Cahier de recherche
Septembre 1990
ISSN : 1181-9383
Copyright © 1990. La Chaire de commerce Omer DeSerres, École des Hautes Études Commerciales (H.E.C.), Montréal. Tous
droits réservés pour tous pays. Toute traduction ou toute reproduction sous quelque forme que ce soit est interdite.
Les textes publiés dans la série "Les Cahiers de la Chaire de commerce Omer DeSerres" n'engagent que la responsabilité de leurs
auteurs. La publication de ce cahier a été rendue possible grâce au fonds de la Chaire de commerce Omer DeSerres, établi suite à
une donation de Roger DeSerres, des contributions du Ministère de l'Industrie, du Commerce et de la Technologie (MICT), et du
ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Science (MESS).
Distribué par la Chaire de commerce Omer DeSerres, École des Hautes Études Commerciales, 5255 avenue Decelles, Montréal,
(Québec) Canada H3T 1V6.
China's Shipping and Trade
Copyright © École des H.E.C.
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The Omer DeSerres Chair of Commerce
The Omer DeSerres Chair of Commerce was established at l'École des Hautes Études
Commerciales in March 1989.
The Chair was made possible by a generous gift from Mr. Roger DeSerres, Chairman of Omer
DeSerres Canada Inc. Additional support was provided by the Québec Governemnt in the
form of matching grants from le Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur and le Ministère de
l'Industrie, du Commerce et de la Technologie. L'École des Hautes Études Commerciales
contributed towards the fund which finances the Chair's activities.
The Chair seeks to promote and strengthen research and teaching in the following related
fields:
·retailing and wholesaling,
·international commerce,
·physical distribution and transport,
·distribution channels.
The Chair is developing teaching material in the area of retailing and publishes occasional
papers in its areas of interest.
The Chair is presently held by:
Dr. Gunnar K. Sletmo, Ph.D.
Chaire de commerce Omer DeSerres
École des Hautes Études Commerciales
Tel: (514) 340-6418
Fax: (514) 340-6432
China's Shipping and Trade
CHINA'S TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
It is remarkable that neither the ancient Egyptians, nor the Indians, nor the Chinese, encouraged
foreign commerce, but seem to have derived their great opulence from this inland navigation.
Adam Smith. (1)
Introduction
Adam Smith once observed that the Chinese do not appear to have taken much interest in
international shipping in that country's glorious past. China's entry into the world of leading
maritime nations is of recent origin and can be linked to the reorientation in its foreign trade policy
which followed two decades of economic and political isolation behind the bamboo curtain. This
isolation reached extreme heights during the 1960s and lasted well into the 1970s.
To end the decades of economic and political turmoil and in order to foster the country's
development, the Chinese government introduced the "Open Door Policy" in 1978. This is the
second time in recent history that the idea of opening China's economy to outside influenced has
emerged. In the 19th century, Americans and other western powers advocated the adoption of an
"Open Door Doctrine"(2). Then it was the West that pried the door open. In 1978 the Chinese
themselves cautiously opened the door, with the safety chain still on. After a decade of increasingly
opening up, reclosing the door appeared implausible, indeed impossible, to westerners attuned to
economic imperatives and market forces. However, the events of June 1989 served as a powerful
reminder that Beijing maintains values and priorities fundamentally different from the western
world view. Nevertheless, it now (Fall 1990) appears that China's doors remain ajar and that foreign
trade and investment will continue to expand in this decade.
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