Financial Times on July 16, 2017 reported that China has been doubling its investments in acquiring bases over the past year to $20bn and is pushing ahead with plans to open new shipping routes through the Arctic circle. It cited a study by Grisons Peak, a London-based investment bank, which said Chinese companies have announced plans to buy or invest in nine overseas ports in the year to June in projects valued at a total of $20.1bn. In addition, discussions are under way for investments in several other ports, for which no value has been divulged. This level of activity represents a sharp acceleration from the $9.97bn in Chinese overseas port projects a year ago. The study claimed the importance of one of the three maritime routes, which runs from China to the Indian Ocean and then on to the Mediterranean, shows up clearly in the newly announced investments. Four separate initiatives are set for Malaysia, with Chinese company investments scheduled for the $7.2bn Melaka Gateway, the $2.84bn Kuala Linggi Port, the $1.4bn Penang Port and the $177m Kuantan port projects. In Indonesia, Ningbo Zhoushan Port plans to invest $590m into the Kalibaru project, an expansion of Tanjung Priok, the country’s largest port. The maritime route from China to Europe via the Arctic Ocean, which could cut the journey time by several days, is also attracting attention. One planned project involves a deepwater port near Arkhangelsk, on Russia’s White Sea, and a railway deep into Siberia. A plan by Poly Group, a Chinese state-owned enterprise, to lead investment in both the port and railway received new impetus this spring with a visit to Arkhangelsk by Wang Yang, a Chinese deputy premier, Chinese officials said. Klaipeda, a Lithuanian port and feeder for Arctic route traffic, has attracted investment proposals from China Merchants, a port operator, to build a large new container port. Talks have also taken place over potential Chinese port investments at Kirkenes, a Norwegian port on the Barents Sea, and at two ports in Iceland.
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