Analyzing the relative efficiency of China’s Yangtze River port system

In spite of the rapid growth of the Yangtze River port system (YRPS) in recent years, knowledge regarding the efficiency characteristics of these ports along the Yangtze River is still limited. This article evaluates the relative efficiency of 22 major ports along the Yangtze River from 2010 to 2016 by using the novel super slacks-based measure (super-SBM) model and the Malmquist productivity index. The YRPS showed a relatively low level of average technical efficiency in 2016, and the technical efficiency values of these ports increased generally from upstream to downstream. In terms of returns to scale, the ports of Shanghai, Nantong, and Suzhou should pay attention to resource allocation, technological advancement, and institutional innovation in the future. The remaining 19 ports, however, should increase investment in the optimization of production-capacity structures, the upgrading of terminal equipment, the improvement of consolidation and distribution systems, channel regulation, and information sharing among terminals. Our results also show that the production technology, resource utilization, enterprise management, and scale economies of the YRPS improved during 2010–2016, and this significantly enhanced the total factor productivity (TFP). Based on these findings, we propose several development strategies for the YRPS, such as improving the consolidation and distribution systems of ports, encouraging the cross-regional integration of port and shipping enterprises, strengthening the coconstruction and sharing of infrastructure, and optimizing the hub-and-spoke network of the YRPS.