The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 10 June 2026 a study titled "Beyond Ports: China Embeds Itself in Africa's Maritime Networks" by Paul Nantulya.
China has established new shipping corridors that connect African port clusters in West, North, and Southern Africa to Chinese port hubs in Qingdao, Tianjin, and Yantai. These routes add to the dozens of direct lines between African and Chinese ports, reflecting growing integration into China-centered maritime networks.
The Guardian published on 9 March 2026 an investigative report titled "How the 'Galapagos of West Africa' Is Plundered by Floating Fish Factories" by Davide Mancini.
Floating Chinese-owned factory ships longer than a football field illegally process sardinella for fishmeal in the waters off Guinea-Bissau. The Chinese fishmeal factories are supported by Turkish purse seiners that illegally supply them with fish.
The offshore fish processing operation has both negative food security implications for the people of Guinea-Bissau and for artisanal fisherman in the country. Fish are the source of a third of animal protein consumed and the informal fishing industry employs 225,000 people from a population of 2.2 million.
Mizzima, a non-profit foundation that supports social change and development in Myanmar, published on 28 January 2026 a commentary titled "Weaponising the Trawl: China's Maritime Militia, Distant-Water Fishing, and the Strategic Contest in the Indian Ocean."
Chinese fishing fleets maintain a massive presence in the Indian Ocean region. What appears on the surface as fishing is, in practice, a grey-zone strategy, blending economic exploitation, intelligence gathering, and coercive presence to reshape the maritime realities without triggering open conflict.
In addition, see Sweekriti Pathak's "Fishing and Force: China's Dark Fleets and Maritime Militias" dated 29 January 2026 published by India's Observer Research Foundation.
The Maritime Executive posted on 1 January 2026 an article titled "Report: Chinese Fishing Vessel Hijacked Off Somalia."
A Chinese fishing vessel, Liao Dong Yu 578, from an illegal fishing fleet was hijacked on New Year's Day off the coast of Puntland, Somalia. Pirates captured the same vessel in 2024 and released it after payment of a ransom.
Voxeurop posted on 10 November 2025 an article titled "The Gambia's Stolen Catch: How Chinese Trawlers Feed Europe's Seafood Market" by Davide Mancini.
The Gambia has a tiny exclusive economic zone, but it is a hotspot for illegal fishing because of the nutrient-rich waters. Chinese-controlled trawlers are the principal offenders.
The Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame published in October 2025 a paper titled "Chinese Fishing in West Africa: Responding to the Environmental and Social Impacts" by Ebimboere Seiyafa et al.
The paper examines the ecological and social risks posed by Chinese fishing in West Africa and offers policy recommendations to strengthen legal protection and enhance regional cooperation to safeguard the region's fisheries and water systems.
Africa Defense Forum magazine published by the US Africa Command published on 16 September 2025 an article titled "Ghana Expands Inshore Exclusive Zone to Curb IUU Fishing."
Ghana has expanded its inshore exclusive zone from 6 to 12 nautical miles to stem illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing. Most of the IUU fishing is done by Chinese-owned trawlers flagged to Ghana.
The Africa Defense Forum (ADF) magazine, published by the US Africa Command, posted on 15 July 2025 an article titled "Indian Ocean Nations Grapple with Illegal Chinese Fishing Trawlers."
China has the largest distant water fishing fleet in the world. According to the World Wildlife Fund, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, and South Africa lost up to $142 million annually between 2015 and 2021 as a result of illegal fishing of shrimp, tuna, at least fifty-six species of sharks and rays and a variety of reef fish. The Chinese fleet is the worst illegal fishing offender.
Military Africa published on 8 June 2025 an article titled "CATIC Visits Ghana Navy to Explore Cooperation, Enhance Maritime Capabilities" by Ekene Lionel.
Executives from the China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) met recently with the chief of naval staff of the Ghana Navy. This initial meeting could potentially evolve into a more formal cooperation agreement between CATIC and the Ghana Navy.
The Telegraph published on 4 May 2025 an article titled "Somali Pirates Use Red Sea Crisis to Stage Return" by Ben Farmer.
Illegal fishing and Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea are driving a slow revival of Somali pirate attacks. In 2025, three vessels have been captured so far by Somali pirates.
Africa Business Insider published on 7 September 2024 an article titled "US Proposes Strategic Deal to Block Chinese Military Expansion in Africa" by Adekunle Agbetiloye.
The United States will train Gabon's special forces and offer a $5 million package that includes radars to assist the country in monitoring illegal fishing, pay for collaboration with the West Virginia National Guard, and support conservation efforts in national parks. There is speculation Washington offered the package to preempt China's goal of establishing a military training facility in Gabon.
The Diplomat published on 20 February 2024 a commentary titled "China Continues Its Search for a Maritime Military Presence in West Africa" by Lea Thome.
This earlier commentary reviews China's rumored efforts to establish a military presence on Africa's Atlantic coast.
The International Crisis Group published on 7 June 2024 an analysis titled "The Roots of Somalia's Slow Piracy Resurgence" by Omar Mahmoud.
After a lapse of about five years, Somali piracy is again on the increase. Since late 2023, the slow rise in piracy is due to a decrease in counter measures by shipowners and naval task forces and frustration in Somali fishing communities with overfishing by foreign trawlers.
The Maritime Executive published on 9 April 2024 an article titled "Chinese Trawlers and Warming Waters Fuel West Africa Fishing Crisis" by Robert Paarlberg.
Fish catches by traditional fishing communities along the West African coast have declined significantly over the past three decades and put the livelihoods of these people in jeopardy. There are multiple reasons for this situation: climate change, illegal fishing by Chinese long-distance trawlers, and too many African canoes in the water.
The London-based Environmental Justice Foundation published in April 2024 a report titled "Tide of Injustice: Exploitation and Illegal Fishing on Chinese Vessels in the Southwest Indian Ocean."
China's distant-water fleet (DWF) is by far the world's largest. This report maps the presence and activities of the Chinese DWF in the Southwest Indian Ocean, which includes the exclusive economic zones of the coastal states Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique and the Indian Ocean islands of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles. Illegal fishing and human rights abuses were found to be commonplace on Chinese vessels throughout the region.
Chinese vessels were linked to 86 unique cases (relating to 177 suspected or confirmed offences) of illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing or human rights abuses within the Southwest Indian Ocean region between 2017 and 2023.
The Diplomat published on 14 March 2024 a commentary titled "China and India's Intense Contest for Influence" by Jabin T. Jacob, Shiv Nadar University.
India has been closely watching Chinese actions in the Indian Ocean in island countries such as Maldives and Mauritius and has responded strongly in cases where its security was directly affected.
Agence France Presse published on 14 February 2024 an article titled "Fear that Pirates Are Returning to Seas Off Somalia."
There has been a spike in armed seaborne attacks in waters off Somalia and the first capture of a foreign vessel by Somali pirates since 2017.
The Telegraph published on 5 June 2023 an article titled "'They Are Stealing What Should be Ours': Chinese Trawlers Are Emptying West African Fishing Grounds" by Torbjorn Wester.
Fish stocks off West Africa are in sharp decline due primarily to the presence of Chinese long-distance trawlers, many of them registered illegally in Ghana. Local fishermen contribute to the problem by using illegal practices such as dynamite and agricultural insecticides.
Foreign Policy published on 16 August 2022 an article titled "More Chinese Military Bases in Africa: A Question of When, Not If" by Eric A. Miller, US Africa Command's director of intelligence analysis.
China has likely considered 14 countries for military basing access, including Angola, Kenya, the Seychelles, and Tanzania. The author argues that silence and apathy by the West will ensure a Chinese base in West Africa becomes a matter of when, not if.
The Environmental Justice Foundation published on 30 March 2022 a major report titled "The Ever-Widening Net: Mapping the Scale, Nature and Corporate Structures of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing by the Chinese Distant-Water Fleet."
The report presents a comprehensive analysis of China's vast, opaque and at times illegal global fisheries footprint. Africa accounts for 79 percent of the apparent offshore fishery projects of the Chinese distant-water fleet, threatening the future of coastal communities in countries such as Ghana.
The Environmental Justice Foundation published on 23 March 2021 a major report titled "At What Cost? How Ghana Is Losing Out in Fishing Arrangements with China's Distant Water Fleet."
The report details how Chinese owners control up to 93 percent of Ghana's trawler vessels, which are beneficially owned by Chinese corporations in spite of a prohibition against foreign ownership or control of trawlers flying the Ghanaian flag. These corporations operate through local front companies, using opaque corporate structures to import their vessels, register and obtain a license to fish. Ghana is now losing between $14.4 and $23.7 million annually in fishing license fees and fines from trawlers.
