China and the Ports of the Indian Ocean : International Institute for Asian Studies : 9789083305509 : 9083305503 : 09 Jan 2023 : Ports play an integral part in the global supply chain. They form the backbone of global economy as well as gateway to international trade. The Indian Ocean is of immense strategic importance as it carries half of the world's container traffic, one third of its cargo and eighty per cent of its maritime oil shipments. About forty per cent of global trade transits the Indian Ocean. In 2004 a US Defense Department report described China's investment in ports in South Asia as a 'string of pearls', the implication being that these were prized assets in extending China's naval reach in the Indian Ocean. Twenty years on and none of the three sites usually signalled for attention are functioning as fully developed ports and none have adequate road and rail connections with their hinterlands.