The Chinese government has imposed fines on international container shipping companies and domestic companies for allegedly violating freight rate regulations. Hapag-Lloyd is also affected.
As announced by the Ministry of Transport, the penalties will be imposed on a total of nine international shipping companies. Seven domestic “Non-Vessel Operating Common Carriers” (NVOCC) are also named. The reason given by the government was that freight rate regulations had been violated. The ministry explained that both the shipping companies and the NVOCCs should see this as a “warning” to improve their processes.
The shipping companies are all industry leaders. They are, in order of market share: Mediterranean Shipping Company(MSC), CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, ONE and Evergreen Marine. Payments are also demanded from Wan Hai, SM Line, Emirates Shipping and the seven unnamed NVOCCs.
The government stated that multiple inspections were carried out in three Chinese ports in August, September and November 2025: Gongzhou, Qingdao and Ningbo, one of the largest ports in the world. The proper implementation of the reporting obligations for freight rates by the companies was checked.
The Ministry of Transport found that the companies had allegedly “violated regulations”. For example, procedures for reporting freight rates were allegedly not completed in full. There is also talk of discrepancies between the freight rates actually charged and the prices officially reported. The companies have now been fined and “serious discussions” are to be held with them. The amount of the fines has not been disclosed. The ministry described this step as a warning and announced that it would intensify its inspections in future. Compliance with freight rate reporting regulations will be checked and any infringements will be punished in accordance with the applicable laws.
