MARAD CHIEF CONTINUES TO MONITOR NEW CHINA MARITIME RULES

MARAD CHIEF CONTINUES TO MONITOR NEW CHINA MARITIME RULES    U.S. Maritime Administrator William G. Schubert said he was pleased by the outcome of recent meetings between U.S. and Chinese government officials in Beijing and Washington regarding the development of China’s new international maritime rules, but concerns remain.
   “I am committed to remaining personally engaged with the Chinese government’s maritime leadership on these important issues,” Schubert said at the May 17 meeting of the National Industrial Transportation League in Monterey, Calif.
   Many aspects of China’s new maritime rules were addressed in these meetings, and to the relief of many shipping officials, some of the rules did not apply to non-Chinese companies. The Chinese also vowed to base the new maritime rules as much as possible on international standards in use by other large trading nations.
   However, China said matters involving freight rates and confidential service contracts would be subject to a separate rule. “This is not especially welcome news for China’s trading partners and for foreign maritime companies seeking to do business in China based on market principles,” Schubert said.
   Schubert added that “China suffers from a serious credibility problem in the maritime sector.”
   “China is a major player in international maritime trade,” he said. “Its state-owned shipping companies, such as COSCO and China Shipping, have established significant market presence worldwide, and have benefited from market-based trade rules in the United States and around the globe. Yet China continues to restrict access of non-Chinese companies to its market through enforcement of its maritime regulations. And, China’s new regulations would appear to have a single ministry both regulate international liner shipping and own a major shipping line. The contradiction here is obvious.”