Domestic feeder shipping in China: a sustainable driver for Chinese container port development.

The future development of China's container ports has become a critical issue, due to the sector's dependence on international trade and the excessive interport competition that exists both within China itself and with the ports of neighbouring countries. This article investigates the potential for utilizing domestic feeder shipping services (i.e. coastal and river container shipping services that carry both international and domestic cargoes) as a new source of future long-term growth in China's container port sector.