An analysis of London and Shanghai as International Maritime Centres

Due to globalization and the shift of economic centres, Asia, especially China, has received increasing attention. International Maritime Centres (IMCs) play an essential role in the shipping and global trade industry. Shanghai IMC develops rapidly and has become a strong competitor compared with other IMCs. Traditional IMCs with historical heritage, such as London, not only face these severe challenges but also need to update with the fast development of technologies and the times. This research establishes a Competitiveness Model from six aspects, which includes six aggregate and 17 sub-indicators, to study IMCs competitiveness, and use Shanghai and London IMCs as case study to analyze the competitiveness in the maritime industry. The result shows that Shanghai IMC is developing rapidly, and it has strong competitiveness in both hardware facilities and soft power, and it will be another top IMC in the future. London has a long history as a traditional IMC. The functions of London have gradually shifted from the port business to providing excellent maritime business services. Therefore, these two IMCs not only have competition but also have cooperation for further development. This study contributes to the maritime and cluster literature by offering a new evaluation model to analyze IMCs competitiveness from soft and hard power and confirming the role of this issue in improving the shipping industry. In practice, this model provides a set of fair criteria to quantify the performance of IMCs in the industry and clear the future direction, and the implications are offered for the government or companies placing regulations or management for IMCs development.