Shipping remains a critical factor in global trade and also has been a key factor in the rise of the Chinese economy since the last decades of the 20th century. However, the 2008 Great Recession caught global shipping in a period of fleet expansion and greater capacity to carry freight per ship. Post-2008 the shipping industry has faced tough times. Trade has not recovered from levels prior to that year. Rates have been drastically cut, company revenues have plummeted, some companies went into bankruptcy (as with South Korea’s Hanjin Shipping in 2016), and other companies have merged.
