China Splits Port Investments Between High- and Low-Income Countries
The protracted port dispute in Panama involving the Chinese operator CK Hutchison has revealed how strategic harbors could act as a flashpoint in global power competition. In a world where geopolitical tensions continue to rise, control over critical ports is being seen as a means to assert sea power - particularly when it comes to Chinese control.
Last week, AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary, released a new dataset capturing the unprecedented rise of Chinese influence in foreign ports. The report traces Beijing’s global ports footprint spanning over two decades between 2000 and 2025. Over the course of that period, Chinese entities and state-owned enterprises provided loans and grants worth nearly $24 billion for 168 ports across 90 countries.
While AidData has previously investigated Beijing’s financing of ports around the world, the 2026 update provides new data on Chinese-funded shoreside equipment, including cranes and scanners. It also includes proposed port investments which are yet to be funded, including Lobito port in Angola, Sandino port in Nicaragua and Mubarak Al-Kabeer port in Kuwait.
Notably, AidData noted that its research rarely found evidence to support the ‘debt trap’ narrative, popularly used to describe Chinese overseas ports financing.
If anything, this new report strengthens the argument that China does not seek sovereign control of overseas territory as much as it does strategic security,” said Alexander Wooley, AidData’s Director of Partnerships and Communications.
Wooley added that China’s overseas port network provide an anchor for its global maritime supply chains. The network provides a geopolitical benefit: a parallel logistics system that offers Beijing strategic independence, free from interference from rivals, and permits it to contemplate a military counter to potential blockades that could be attempted by an enemy in any future conflict.
Indeed, the report found that Chinese state-owned creditors are increasingly co-locating port financing with other investments vital for China’s national security, such as critical minerals mining. The report identified 22 Chinese-financed mines within a 500-kilometer radius of Chinese-funded seaports. Leading examples include the Port of Chancay in Peru and its proximity to the Las Bambas copper mine, as well as the Port of Morébaya in Guinea, developed by Chinese investors together with the Simandou Iron mining project.
Most importantly, the report clarifies a common misconception that Chinese port investments are focused on developing economies.
"Chinese financing for global seaports is almost evenly split between high-income and low- and middle-income countries,” said Rory Fedorochko, the report’s co-author and Program Manager at AidData. “Some $10.8 billion supports 29 port locations across 20 high-income countries including Greece, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore- for projects where the intent is generally commercial, rather than geopolitical.”
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Some of the ports heavily financed by China include Hambantota in Sri Lanka ($1.97 billion), Port of Newcastle in Australia ($1.32 billion), the Autonomous Port of Kribi in Cameroon ($1.17 billion), the Port of Melbourne in Australia ($1.14 billion) and Haifa Port in Israel ($1.13 billion).
Top image: Apaleutos25 / CC BY SA 4.0
