China’s Investment and Construction Activities in European Transport Infrastructure; Considerations and Strategic Alternatives for the Port of Rotterdam

China launched the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative in 2013. This is a very ambitious plan to improve connectivity in the Eurasian continent by means of large-scale investing in infrastructure. Due to the magnitude of the initiative, it will most likely affect trade patterns and supply chains. Relatively, China has already invested a lot in Eastern European infrastructure, while Western Europe has hardly been subject to Chinese infrastructural investments. The developments of the OBOR initiative are followed by the Port of Rotterdam with a lot of interest. They have recognized the possibility that the economic centre of gravity in Europe could swift from West to East. This report will first discuss several potential motivations which could drive China to execute their OBOR initiative, secondly a theoretical framework will be established to concretize the consequences of the OBOR initiative, then the dataset concerning Chinese maritime and infrastructural investments in Europe will be presented, and at last the data will be evaluated through the theoretical framework in order to assess the consequences for the Port of Rotterdam. By achieving this, this thesis can ultimately provide a more complete insight for the Port of Rotterdam Authority, and provide them more information regarding the consequences of the OBOR initiative. Obtaining this knowledge could help them determine their own policy.