Impact of Hinterland Manufacturing on the Development of Container Ports: Evidence from the Pearl River Delta, China

Container ports and hinterland manufacturing are two important forces of the local participation in economic globalization. This study, taking the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China with an export-oriented economy as an example, applies Huff and panel regression models to evaluate the impact of hinterland manufacturing on the development of container ports during the period of 1993–2019. The results show that 1) the spatial patterns of hinterlands for hub ports help to determine the distribution range and scale of economic variables that affect port throughput; 2) the hinterland’s gross manufacturing output has universally positive influence on port throughput, wherein export-oriented processing and the entire manufacturing industry have significantly positive impact on port throughput in 1993–2011 and 2001–2019, respectively; 3) the two internal structural factors related to an export-oriented economy, labor-intensive sectors and foreign-funded terminals, have positively moderate the direct influence of hinterland manufacturing on port throughput. Our results highlight the importance of local context in understanding port-manufacturing relationship in developing economies. Based on our findings, policy implications are further proposed to enhance port network organization in PRD.