China cabotage
PRC Maritime Traffic Safety Law + Regulations on Domestic Waterway Transport
- Citizenship requirement
- Chinese-flag + Chinese-crewed
- Vessel flag required
- PRC flag only (no bareboat-in permitted for domestic trades)
- Officer quota
- 100% Chinese-national officers + 100% Chinese-national ratings
- Wage effect
- Chinese domestic seafarer wages 30-50% below international; large domestic fleet with distinct labour market
Notes
Extremely strict. Applies to coastal + Yangtze inland + all PRC territorial waters. Foreign-flag vessels can only load/discharge international cargo at Chinese ports. Hong Kong + Macao domestic trades treated separately.