Some 1,200 kilometres north of Egypt’s Suez Canal lies the Port of Piraeus on the coast of Greece. The country possesses more shipping capacity than any other, and the port, majority-owned by COSCO, a Chinese state-owned firm, is one of Europe’s busiest, with more than 4m containers moving through it every year.

Just 30km west, the American government is backing a bid to develop a commercial port at Elefsina. About 500km to the north, Russian and Chinese investors have taken a stake in the Port of Thessaloniki. And farther north-east American and NATO forces have built a logistics hub at the Port of Alexandroupolis.

The scramble for ports in Greece is part of a global contest to control the plumbing of maritime trade, from Argentina to Thailand. In some places, like the Panama Canal, the competition has taken a nasty turn, part of a geostrategic battle between America and China. In others, multiple countries and firms are vying for port and logistics deals as geopolitical insurance, as a business proposition—or both. In sum, spending on port infrastructure will rise by more than a third to $90bn annually by 2035, says PwC, a consultancy.

About 80% of the world’s trade by volume travels by sea. Governments naturally worry about keeping goods moving. A series of crises in recent years, from the covid-19 pandemic to the current closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has shown how easily the global trading system can be thrown into chaos. The desire to reduce dependence on
particular chokepoints for both commercial and geopolitical reasons is only natural. And in the long run more competition between ports probably means lower shipping costs.

Yet the rush to build port infrastructure is likely to result in huge inefficiencies. Many investors, including both American and Chinese taxpayers, will see disappointing returns. And political pressure for shipping firms to use particular ports and sea routes, in defiance of all commercial logic, is bound to grow.

As with so many modern geopolitical contests, this one has been driven by anxiety about China’s ambitions and its tightening hold on global supply chains. Chinese firms
now operate or have a financial stake in at least 129 ports outside China (see map), and have spent at least $80bn on port construction from Antigua to Tanzania, with many of the investments tied to bilateral trade and regional shipping agreements.

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The global scramble for ports – The investment frenzy is driven by anxiety about China’s tightening grip on supply chains, The Economist, April 30, 2026, www.economist.com