Shanghai-California green corridor collaboration remains steadfast despite tariff war 2.0
Governmental and non-governmental stakeholders have highlighted the progress made so far on establishing a green shipping corridor between California and Shanghai. The green corridor plan seems to be unaffected by the escalating United States-China trade war.
Transportation and environmental policy leaders and scholars from California state agencies and the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Shanghai gathered at a forum held at the Port of Long Beach on March 17, 2025, to discuss their efforts to decarbonize the maritime industry via the development of the green shipping corridor.
The forum highlighted the role of infrastructure development and the policies and regulations needed to advance international green shipping corridors. Present were representatives of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the California Energy Commission (CEC) and executive-level government representatives from the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC).
In addition to leadership from SMTC, the Chinese delegation included members of the Shanghai International Port Group, COSCO Shipping Holdings, Shanghai Maritime University and the China Classification Society. The attendees also included key technical and policy experts, government representatives, academics and researchers, industry representatives, and members of the environmental justice community.
“Transportation and goods movement continue to be a critical part of the backbone of our strong and thriving economy, and we are thrilled to join forces with Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission in this important work,” Toks Omishakin, California Transportation Secretary, commented.
“Our team at CalSTA looks forward to continued cooperation with our ports and international partners as we collaborate in our efforts to decarbonize goods movement in the maritime sector.”
“The Port of Shanghai is the busiest container port in the world. We value our partnership with the State of California and have established productive working relationships with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Together, we are committed to advancing port decarbonization and the essential development of green shipping corridors,” Ye Xing, SMTC Deputy Director General, said.
Over the years, California and China have engaged in open dialogue on climate cooperation. In 2023, California governor Gavin Newsom traveled to China where he committed to strong collaboration to advance shared interests related to climate action, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and short-lived climate pollutants and the acceleration and deployment of clean energy. During the visit, five cooperative agreements were signed. One memorandum of understanding between California and Shanghai aims to advance clean, low-carbon transportation including the development of clean ports and green shipping.
This work complements the existing partnership between the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Shanghai to decarbonize one of the world’s busiest container shipping routes.
At the forum, the partners mentioned that the Port of Long Beach, together with the Port of Los Angeles, C40 Cities and the Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission (SMTC), jointly published, in October 2024, their first-ever Green Shipping Corridor Partnership Annual Progress Report, which outlines significant progress made toward decarbonizing maritime vessels.
The Port of Long Beach also recently published a white paper on the use of clean marine fuels in shipping.
“Everyone involved in this initiative sees the potential of the Green Shipping Corridor that now connects California to Shanghai,” Mario Cordero, Port of Long Beach Chief Executive Officer, stressed.
“Twenty years ago, the Port of Long Beach made a commitment to clean air, resulting in significant reduction in harmful emissions today. Our green journey has evolved into a goal of zero emissions and decarbonizing one of the world’s busiest trade routes, and it’s great to see the parties involved in the green corridor stepping up the collaboration needed to reach this destination. Infrastructure investment and policy changes to allow clean marine fuels to be more widely used will be particularly important to maximize the trans-Pacific partnership we saw in Long Beach last week.”
“Decarbonizing goods movement between the largest ports in the United States and China requires international cooperation and that’s exactly what we’re doing through our work on the Green Shipping Corridor Partnership,” Eugene Seroka, Port of Los Angeles Executive Director, noted.
“We are committed to working toward the deployment of zero lifecycle carbon container ships on the corridor by 2030.”
International partnerships that leverage existing trade relationships have been essential to drive progress on the decarbonization of shipping. Green shipping corridors are said to provide a forum for partnership and cooperation where all participating parties come together with an aim to achieve goals and advance toward use of low- and zero-carbon fuels and technologies.
Goals in the Los Angeles – Long Beach – Shanghai green shipping route include deploying reduced or zero lifecycle carbon emission capable ships and facilitating investment in clean marine fueling infrastructure at the partner ports.
The forum brought together leadership to weigh in on these topics, to dive deeper into the necessary components of green shipping corridors and explore opportunities for greater collaboration in this emerging space.
“The California Energy Commission is a proud partner in this effort to decarbonize our Ports and implement the Green Shipping Corridor effort between the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles and the Port of Shanghai,” Nancy Skinner, CEC Commissioner, said.
“The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have made great strides in decarbonizing their port operations, and the CEC is proud to have funded multiple projects at each port that are furthering the transition to clean energy and green shipping goals here in California.”
In 2024, California State leadership traveled to Shanghai to see port operations in real-time and witness firsthand innovation being employed. Later that same year, the United States Department of Energy published a Maritime Decarbonization Action Plan, which identified pathways to achieve a zero-emissions maritime sector by 2050.
“As a champion for clean air, the California Air Resources Board remains dedicated to working together to identify opportunities for deeper decarbonization in the green shipping space,” Liane Randolph, CARB Chair, pointed out.
“In this interconnected world, where we share oceans, shipping corridors, trade and climate impacts, it’s increasingly critical for us to also share ideas and solutions,” Fan Dai, CCCI Executive Director said.
“Cutting climate pollution from shipping requires deep collaboration, and that’s what this forum is all about.”
Will collaboration continue in spite of rising trade war tensions?
The forum in California seems to have sent a message to maritime stakeholders that the collaboration between the US and China’s ports is set to continue despite looming US tariffs and China’s readiness to act with countermeasures.
The full-scale trade tensions between the United States and several countries including China are posing a significant threat to global free trade.
In addition to tariffs on steel and aluminum recently imposed by the US, America is also targeting Chinese maritime companies and Chinese-built ships.
In late February 2025, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) proposed a measure to charge a fee of up to $1.5 million for Chinese-built vessels entering US ports in an attempt to curb China’s dominance in shipping, shipbuilding and logistics sectors. This particular measure, along with several others, targets Chinese ship operators and Chinese-built vessels and promotes the transport of US goods on domestic vessels.
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In response, China’s foreign ministry said that the new US plan could only negatively impact global supply and industrial chains but not necessarily revitalize the United States’ shipbuilding industry.
In January this year, China’s maritime giant COSCO Shipping Holdings was also placed on the US Department of Defense’s (DoD) sanctions list, together with 130 other Chinese companies, for their alleged ties to the country’s military. The primary objective of this list is to restrict the entities’ economic and technological interactions with the US and curb China’s military modernization efforts.
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Yet despite US efforts to diminish China’s global maritime influence, recent data have shown that China managed to secure 3,454 out of a total of 5,735 vessels in the current global orderbook. This represents an orderbook share of 62.42% or a total of 175.4 million gross tons, according to information provided by Greek shipbroking services provider Intermodal. To compare, US is building 52 units or about 245,000 gross tons primarily consisting of tugboats and passenger/cruise vessels.
This rise of China’s—together with Japan’s and South Korea’s—dominance in shipbuilding is believed to be supported by the surge in alternative fuels-powered vessels amid the global maritime industry’s push for decarbonization.
