A recent report from the Global Maritime Forum reveals that China has quickly become a global leader in green shipping corridors, with nearly one-fifth of the world’s corridor initiatives connecting to a Chinese port.

Launched at the Global Maritime Forum’s Annual Summit 2026 in Shanghai, ‘Green shipping corridors: How China is re-energising the global movement‘ measures China’s progress against the four key building blocks considered crucial to successfully starting up a green corridor. The report finds that China is one of the strongest actors globally in this space, holding strategic advantages in three of the four building blocks considered a useful tool for benchmarking corridor viability”.

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• Viable zero-emission fuel and technology pathways: Availability of zero-emission fuels, technologies, and bunkering infrastructure to service zero-emission vessels.
• Cross-value-chain collaboration: Stakeholders committed to decarbonisation and willing to explore new forms of collaboration from both demand and supply sides.
• Enabling policy environment: Policy incentives and regulations that narrow the cost gap and expedite safety measures.
• Customer demand: Conditions need to be in place to mobilise demand for green shipping and scale zero-emission shipping on the corridor.

China’s performance across the first three building blocks is strong, but, as in many countries, customer demand for China’s zero-emission fuels (the fourth building block) lags behind the levels needed to match its potential supply. However, the report outlines multiple opportunities for China to better mobilise demand, including using policy mechanisms to close the cost gap and further advancing infrastructure for methanol, ammonia, and battery-electric ships.

“The Global Maritime Forum has been measuring global progress on green corridors since 2022, when China was involved in three announced initiatives—now, that number has risen to more than 20,” said Jesse Fahnestock, director of decarbonisation at the Global Maritime Forum. “China’s advancements on green fuel development and efforts around international collaboration could be success factors for these initiatives.”