China's 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as part of its Belt and Road Initiative when combined with its maritime security strategy and naval modernization is a violation of the core principle of geo-politics and in theory will have a major consequence for the world order in the 21st century. This paper analyses this historical initiative from a geo-strategic perspective with special focus on port infrastructure and cities, and argues that this initiative while being portrayed as a trade & economic undertaking, is in fact a security strategy which will transform China's policy of opening-up and reform in coming years and aims to realize China's grand strategic objective of national rejuvenation. This paper is organized in two-parts, the first part will introduce the subject and discuss the strategic rationale governing this initiative, the second part will explain this historical initiative as a shift in strategy, identify the flaws in the strategic rationale and conclude with general observations on the future trajectory.

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: A Shift in Strategy
Port infrastructure development, as part of the Maritime Silk Road, is an innovation of the process of reform and opening up which began in 1980. In March, 1980, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council renamed Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, and Xiamen as Special Economic Zones. Building on this, in 1984, Dalian, Qinhuangdao, Tianjin, Yantai, Qingdao, Lianyungang, Nantong, Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, Beihai were approved by the State Council as the first batch of coastal cities opening to the outside world. This phase of opening up and reforms as a strategy was aimed at transferring manufacturing from coastal to inland regions. China’s economy transformed rapidly making it the second largest economy and the largest exporter of goods trade, when a challenge arose to its reform and opening up strategy in 2008 – the global financial crisis. Consumption in the US and Europe retarded since 2008 along with slowing growth of international trade. This trend forced China’s economy to enter a stage of high-medium speed growth from previous high-speed growth by 2017. Consequently, the pressure of sustaining economic growth has increased on China’s leadership and forced a need for a new round of reform and opening up.

This imperative was sought to be realized through BRI of which the maritime silk road initiative turned ‘outward’ in search of new opportunities to secure and sustain the much-needed growth momentum of China’s economy. Ports and port cities, hence constitute the building blocks of the maritime silk road as a subset of BRI, however, this time around, these ports and port cities will sprout along central regions of global economic growth in the 21st century – Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, South East Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe, and other countries and regions, places with  fastest growth in global trade and cross border investment (Silk Road Academy; 2017). 

Image 2: Map of the Silk Roads - 2025
 
 
In 2015, with the authorization of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued The Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which states, “The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is designed to go from China's coast to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in one route, and from China's coast through the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other”. It further states that, “At sea, the Initiative will focus on jointly building smooth, secure and efficient transport routes connecting major sea ports along the Belt and Road”. This vision statement explicitly mentions 15 ports – Shanghai, Tianjin, Ningbo-Zhoushan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhanjiang, Shantou, Qingdao, Yantai, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Haikou and Sanya – to act as ‘strategic fulcrum’, and remain at the forefront of opening up and reform. 

Owing to its increasing commodity trade and increasingly intensive marine transport with countries along the BRI, China needs more secure and reliable ports outside China to be the fulcrum of its maritime logistic and also enable it to have more ‘non-military’ bases to provide security for China’s maritime transport, so as to meet China’s needs to ensure security of maritime trade and energy channel – establishment of safe trade corridors through non-traditional means. In order to build a smooth, safe and efficient transport route, establishment of an efficient and convenient port network or port group is undertaken through assigning specific missions to China’s coastal port city areas – The Bohai Port Group, Yangtze River Delta Port Group, and Pearl River Delta Port Group. Details of the projects undertaken by and linked to these three port groups forms a multi-dimensional matrix of – shipping routes, rail-road routes, port infrastructure, free-trade areas, construction of economic circles and industrial parks etc. 

Table 1: Port Groups and Fulcrum Cities