Port construction is vital to the development of the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which together with the Silk Road Economic Belt forms China's Belt and Road Initiative. 

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, is envisioned to build an infrastructure and trade network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.

The 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road is set to link China’s port facilities with the European and African coasts. Back in early 2015, Chinese authorities outlined plans for the construction and advancement of 15 “key ports” in China, including Shanghai port, Tianjin port and Dalian port.

Substantial investment in port facilities outside China is also planned or under way. Lower costs and more efficient transport are expected as expanded or new capacity will improve connections between sea and land. 

One of the most high profile port projects is Piraeus in Greece. According to a deal signed in April 2016, China's COSCO Shipping Limited will first pay 419 million US dollars and then invest another 400 million US dollars over the next decade in infrastructure at the port. In five years of operation, COSCO aims to make the Piraeus port the south gate of the China-Europe land-sea express to speed up transportation between China and Europe, according to China COSCO Shipping Chairman Xu Lirong.

At the other end of the Maritime Silk Road is Gwadar port in Pakistan, operated by China Overseas Port Holdings and built by China Harbor Engineering Company. The warm-water, deep-sea port, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf in Gwadar in southwest Pakistan has already been put into operation. China and Pakistan agreed to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to connect the Pakistani port with Kashgar city in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It will shorten China's pathway for oil and gas imports from Africa and the Middle East by thousands of kilometers, making Gwadar a potentially vital link in China's supply chain. As well as the port, the ongoing construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor - with an investment of 46 billion US dollars – includes roads, energy projects and industrial parks.

Other port investment examples include Kazakhstan's Khorgos Eastern-Gate land port. It’s already open with cargo from China and other Asia Pacific countries passing through it and entering Russia and Europe. In Sri Lanka, China Merchants Holdings is helping develop the Hambantota Port. And China will invest over five billion US dollars in a new economic zone in the south of the island country. A new deep-sea port at Sonadia Island in Bangladesh is also being constructed.