Port Governance in China: Devolution and Effects Analysis

In this paper, we will introduce the devolution of ports (seaports and river ports) governance in People's Republic of China since its foundation in 1949. From laggard ports infrastructure to international level ports clusters, the huge changes of ports in China only spend no more than sixty years. The fast seaports and river ports development in recent years fascinate us to analyze the uncovered effects of the ports governance. We separate the developing process into three periods: integrated and controlled by the Ministry of Communications (MOC, 1949-1984); jointly managed by MOC and local port authority (1985-2001); and managed by local port administration bureau (2002-present). Further, we will introduce the development cases, and will analyze positive and negative effects of main ports governance on different periods. It should be noticed that China's economic reform is carried under the original political structure and framework. This paper is concluded by asserting that it can be tell the reforms in solving china's ports problems are prove to be successful, although there leave some problems need to be considered further. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Beijing Jiaotong University [BJU], Systems Engineering Society of China (SESC)