COSCO is a Chinese state-owned shipping company. The Communist Party controls the appointment of its most senior bosses, who also run its party committee.
COSCO gained a foothold in Europe in 2009 when it began managing terminals in the port of Piraeus in Greece. In 2016 it gained a majority share of the entire facility. In 2021 it sought a 35% stake in a terminal at the port of Hamburg in Germany, prompting an outcry over fears that China could use COSCO to disrupt the port and spy on its operations. COSCO was eventually allowed a stake smaller than the 25% needed for a veto over major decisions.
In 2019, citing national security, the American government forced a Hong Kong company to give up its ownership of a container terminal in Long Beach, California, following the firm's takeover by COSCO.
In 2025 China proposed that COSCO join BlackRock and MSC as a buyer of port terminals being sold by CK Hutchison, seeking veto rights in the ports' operations.
Chinese firms operate or have a financial stake in at least 129 ports outside China, and have spent at least $80bn on port construction from Antigua to Tanzania, with many investments tied to bilateral trade and regional shipping agreements. More than a third of China's overseas ports are near maritime chokepoints, including the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz and the Suez Canal. After a terminal operating contract is signed, total trade with China rises by more than a fifth, according to MERICS, a think-tank in Berlin, while countries that allow Chinese firms to run all their terminals at one of their ports see a 19% drop in exports to the rest of the world.
Zhu Tao, COSCO's chairman, said in March 2026: "The intensifying international geopolitical competition has profoundly affected our industry. Expanding our port footprint remains a critical response." The firm plans to invest more in Piraeus and Abu Dhabi. China Merchants Port, another large Chinese firm, is acquiring Vast Infrastructure, a Brazilian port operator. Chinese firms are also building industrial parks and manufacturing facilities close to their existing ports in Africa and Europe.
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