Co-Opetition Between the Ports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen from the Users' Perspective

This study investigates empirically the current level of competitiveness and the major areas for possible collaboration between two adjacent ports in China – Hong Kong port and Shenzhen port, both are among the top ten busiest container ports in the world – from the perspective of their users – freight forwarders and shipping lines. A self-administered questionnaire survey with measurement in Likert scale was used to collect the required data from the users for comparison. Wilcoxon signed rank tests for single and paired samples were used to analyze the data. Results of the analysis show that Hong Kong port excels in facilities, services, and management while Shenzhen port surpasses in location and costs. The respective advantages are related to the historical development of the two ports and their geographical locations with respect to the common hinterland – the Pearl River Delta region. Ways to enhance collaboration between the two ports include, among others, information sharing to improve visibility, road network and other infrastructure investment to strengthen linkage, and joint venture to develop port-centric logistics. The findings shed light on the relative significance of the factors affecting the choice of ports of freight forwarding and shipping companies and provide an objective empirical basis for comparing the competitiveness between ports. The results can help the two ports in question reposition themselves to leverage further their respective competencies as advocated in the resource-based view theory. Major areas identified for possible collaboration between the two ports to achieve mutual benefits as promoted in the network theory also help strengthen the overall competitiveness of the port network in the long run.