The Chinese Infrastructural network to conquer the Mediterranean

The contribution starts from the analysis of the complex system of maritime commercial transport in relation both to the geo-economic transformations connected with the changes in the geography of the flows and the routes, and to the consequences that derive in terms of ports at different scales. In this scenario the emergence of a new global competition among ports is deepened, as a result of the strategies adopted by large shipping companies, which seem to be increasingly influenced in the choice of ports by logistical and organizational conditions of greater advantage rather than only by the geographical location of the freight. In particular, a great interest is paid to Mediterranean ports that, favoured by the enlargement of the Suez Canal and by redevelopment operations started in order to gain attractiveness, have become the object of speculative interest by global investors, such as China, interested in consolidating their infrastructural and logistical bases in the Basin. China, in fact, has started to invest heavily in its ports and maritime terminals allowed in the Mediterranean, implementing the One Belt One Road. The project aimed at strengthening the role of China on a global scale, favouring international investment flows and commercial outlets for national productions, and it was based on the creation of a global network of infrastructures, on land and sea, to ensure a complete crossing from Asia to the Mediterranean.