China’s Bilateral Liner Shipping Connectivity — Q1 2026
UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index (LSBCI) for Q1 2026, showing how strongly China’s liner shipping network connects with 19 focus-market trading partners. Values are a normalized connectivity index (0–1), not cargo volumes, freight rates or transit times.
The official UNCTAD bulk release publishes one reference quarter per year — 2006Q01 through 2026Q01, 21 annual reference observations per pair — not a complete Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4 quarterly sequence. DDP Atlas reproduces only those published periods: no quarter is interpolated, filled forward or estimated, and DDP Atlas publishes China pairs only.
What the selected UNCTAD release shows for China
For Q1 2026, UNCTAD publishes 19 China bilateral liner-shipping pairs. The strongest connection in the release — China and Republic of Korea — anchors the scale, while the weakest focus-market pair sits far lower.
- Tracked trade partners
- 19
- Highest connectivity
- 0.8591
- Lowest connectivity
- 0.4684
- Connectivity spread
- 0.3907
The highest value in this selected period, China – Republic of Korea at 0.8591, provides the strongest bilateral connection in the published slice. The median pair, United Arab Emirates, sits at 0.6892. All figures are reproduced from UNCTAD without numeric transformation. LSBCI is a connectivity measure — it does not report shipment demand, a booking price, sailing schedule, customs clearance or delivery time.
Interactive bilateral comparison
19 China bilateral observations · normalized index (0–1) · Q1 2026. Bars show the approved selected set for this indicator; download the CSV for the machine-readable table.
Source: United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UNCTAD Data Hub. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 IGO. UNCTAD does not endorse DDP Atlas. Original source · CC BY 3.0 IGO
Data table & downloads
| Bilateral pair | Period | LSBCI | Unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| China — Republic of Korea | Q1 2026 | 0.8591 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Singapore | Q1 2026 | 0.7864 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — India | Q1 2026 | 0.7307 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Viet Nam | Q1 2026 | 0.7235 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Spain | Q1 2026 | 0.719 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — United Kingdom | Q1 2026 | 0.7117 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Netherlands (Kingdom of the) | Q1 2026 | 0.708 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — France | Q1 2026 | 0.7022 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Italy | Q1 2026 | 0.6928 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — United Arab Emirates | Q1 2026 | 0.6892 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — United States | Q1 2026 | 0.6853 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Germany | Q1 2026 | 0.6819 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Saudi Arabia | Q1 2026 | 0.6617 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Japan | Q1 2026 | 0.6544 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Mexico | Q1 2026 | 0.5727 | normalized index (0–1) |
| Canada — China | Q1 2026 | 0.5489 | normalized index (0–1) |
| Brazil — China | Q1 2026 | 0.5337 | normalized index (0–1) |
| Australia — China | Q1 2026 | 0.489 | normalized index (0–1) |
| China — Indonesia | Q1 2026 | 0.4684 | normalized index (0–1) |
Download filtered approved dataset CSV →
Each pair carries 21 annual Q1 reference observations (Q1 2006–Q1 2026), the periods published in the official UNCTAD bulk release. Quarters the source does not publish are not synthesized or interpolated.
What the index measures
The Liner Shipping Bilateral Connectivity Index (LSBCI) is UNCTAD’s country-pair extension of the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI). Where LSCI scores a single economy’s position in the global liner network, LSBCI scores the connection between two economies. Each pair is published as a normalized index on a 0–1 scale; the strongest observed bilateral pair in the release anchors the scale at 1.
The underlying components reflect the structure of direct liner services between the two economies — number of ship calls, container handling capacity deployed on the corridor, number of liner services and carriers, the size of the largest ship deployed, and the number of countries reachable through direct services. Higher values mean a denser, better-served bilateral liner connection.
LSBCI is a connectivity statistic. It is not a measure of traded cargo volume, a freight rate in USD per container or per kilogram, a transit time, or a market share. Missing periods are not interpolated, and DDP Atlas reproduces the published values without numeric transformation.
From connectivity to a shipment plan
Connectivity describes how well a trade lane is served by liner shipping; it does not by itself determine a quote, a sailing date, or a delivery window. To move goods from China, combine this view with the route guides and planning tools below.
China to USA
Trans-Pacific lane guide: gateways, transit bands and planning notes.
China to UK
Europe-bound lane guide: Felixstowe, Southampton and planning notes.
Volumetric weight calculator
Convert dimensions to chargeable weight before requesting a quote.
Request a freight estimate
Get a DDP or standard estimate for your China-origin shipment.
Methodology & sources
- Original dataset
- US.LSBCI · United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UNCTAD Data Hub
- Provider
- UNCTAD Data Hub
- License
- CC BY 3.0 IGO · recorded in the approved source registry
- Indicator
- Liner shipping bilateral connectivity index (quarterly) — focus markets · 2006–2026; country-pair, normalized index (0–1), quarterly · Official normalized bilateral index (0–1); retain source methodology/version metadata when comparing historical observations
- Period & retrieval
- Q1 2026–Q1 2026 · retrieved 2026-11-04 · DDP Atlas verified 2026-11-04
Scope of this view
This public view prioritizes China bilateral pairs relevant to DDP Atlas trade-lane research. Historical imports may contain additional periods and, where an all-geographies import is explicitly reviewed, additional bilateral pairs. Use the period and location filters to keep comparisons like-for-like.
DDP Atlas reports the source definition, unit and geography as provided. These statistics are not shipment quotes, and missing periods are not interpolated. The full approval, licensing and attribution record for this series is maintained in the DDP Atlas intelligence source registry before any chart is published.
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