Jasper Verschuur

Postdoctoral researcher, OPSIS group, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

Jasper Verschuur is a postdoctoral researcher within the Oxford Programme for Sustainable Infrastructure Systems (OPSIS) group at the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford and a consultant at the World Bank. His research is on the intersection of climate analysis, critical infrastructure modelling, economics and system analysis. Dr Verschuur’s main research interests include quantifying global system interactions of infrastructure, trade and supply chain networks and the risks posed to these networks from climate-related extremes or other disasters.

This aerial photo taken on 19 April 2023 shows shipping containers stacked at Zhoushan port in Ningbo, in China's eastern Zhejiang province. (AFP)

Economy

China's port dominance puts damper on global supply chain fragmentation

By Jasper Verschuur 03 May 2023

While talk of supply chain fragmentation and "friendshoring" has picked up pace amid heightened US-China tensions, Jasper Verschuur points out that the speed and breadth with which supply chain fragmentation might occur, particularly in Asia, is constrained by the ability of the maritime and port system to adapt. In that respect, China’s dominance is hard to weaken.