China's modern history is a history of humiliation over the past century, represented by the Opium War. From the signing of unequal treaties by the Qing Dynasty to the abolition of these treaties after the founding of the People's Republic of China, only China itself knows the hardships and tribulations it has endured. In the process, we have become more aware of the importance of the ocean to a country.
After the reform and opening up, China's national strength has grown by leaps and bounds, and "going to the deep blue" has become more and more urgent. In 2013, China first mentioned the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", which is exactly 10 years old this year. China's progress in the past 10 years has been astonishing. In 2013, China first mentioned the establishment of the "Silk Road in the 21st century", which passed through the Strait of Malacca in Singapore, passed through Colombo in the Indian Ocean, turned into the Suez Canal in the Red Sea, and finally entered the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe. It can be said that the Maritime Silk Road includes the most important maritime nodes on the Eurasian and African continental plates.
At that time, no one was optimistic about us, and they all thought that this was drawing a big pie, and it is no wonder that the Maritime Silk Road at that time was only on the map, and China's control over the important maritime nodes of the Maritime Silk Road was almost zero. Ten years later, looking at the nodes on this Silk Road, each node has terminals in which China has shares, controls and operates, and it has spread all over the world. In 2023, China owns or operates more than 100 ports and terminals in 54 countries around the world, and the Silk Road traces are all over the world's five oceans and continents.
This has effectively made China the world's largest port operator and influential in the world's most strategically important waterways. The 2017 U.S. power assessment report shows that China's naval strength has been improved to the second in the world, and with the passage of time, China will have more naval fleets and more overseas controllable ports, which is undoubtedly enhancing China's influence on the global ocean.