Study On Legal Issues Of Coastal Piggybacking In Free Trade Zone

For a long time,many countries in the world,including China,have adopted the practice of coastal transport reservation,and China has always taken "shipping protection" as the leading direction in its legislation and policy.In the context of the prosperity and development of container shipping in the "Ocean Century",for the purpose of strengthening China’s shipping soft power,the shipping policy of the free trade zone(FTZ)are constantly innovating,among which the pilot of coastal piggyback business is particularly prominent.The pilot business of coastal piggyback in China started from piggyback of empty containers.In 2013,the State Council approved for the first time that Chinese-funded ships flying flag of convenience will use Shanghai Port as a transit port to carry out piggyback business.In 2021,the State Council expanded the pilot to allow foreign ships of international liner companies to carry out coastal piggyback business with the above seaports as transit ports.It has completely broken through the long-term restriction that only domestic trade shipping companies engaging in coastal transportation business,and kicked off the prelude to the coastal piggyback policy of Chinese-funded ships flying flag of convenience and foreign ships engaging in coastal piggyback in China’s FTZ.This paper systematically sorts out the coastal piggyback,analyzes and studies the legal issues and disputes arising from the implementation of coastal piggyback,and puts forward corresponding suggestions for improvement.This paper briefly introduces the development history and implementation status of coastal piggyback in the FTZ by elaborating on the basic scope of coastal piggybacking.From the legislative history of coastal transport rights,the relationship between coastal piggyback business and coastal transportation rights is analyzed,and highlighting the main legal difficulties of current coastal piggybacking in FTZ.In the context of the State Council’s clear proposal to meet the conditions of equivalence for coastal piggybacking in FTZ,the difficulties in the reciprocal implementation of the coastal piggyback were analyzed,and solutions are explored.Most countries have made reservations regarding their coastal transportation under the WTO,and China has not previously reached any agreement on opening coastal routes in any existing bilateral or multilateral agreement.Therefore,facing an international market that is not optimistic,there are huge challenges in defining equal openness and implementing policies towards each other.Coastal piggyback has many problems of its own.First of all,there have been relatively few legislative norms regarding coastal transportation,and there are contradictory parts in these regulations,which may lead to unclear application during the policy implementation process.Secondly,China has long held a shipping protection stance and adopted a strict system for Cabotage.The current implementation of coastal piggyback business in FTZ has indeed had a certain impact on Cabotage.Finally,the coastal piggybacking in the FTZ belongs to a special new shipping policy with its own unique application area,and the legislative model within the FTZ is not yet very clear.At present,adjustments are mainly made by suspending the application of conflicting norms,but after all,it is not a long-term solution.And even if the provisions are suspended,it is not known whether these provisions are legal and compliant,and whether they are enforceable.How to find a legislative model suitable for the future development path along the coast of the FTZ at this stage is an urgent problem to be solved.The original intention of the establishment of the FTZ is to encourage the reform of the domestic shipping regulatory system and upgrading of the domestic shipping industry.The direction of policies depends on its driving effect on domestic shipping management reform and its impact on the domestic shipping market.In the context of the fiery pilot program of the coastal piggybacking policy in the FTZ,how to solve the above problems through the construction of a sound legal system under the circumstances of many problems,and how to make the policy achieve good effects that can be replicated and promoted through legal coordination is a matter of course.The top priority of the coastal piggybacking policy development of the FTZ.