It seems fitting that a Chinese containership, the Andronikos, will have the honour of opening the enlarged Panama Canal next month.
This is a key East-West artery made ready for the new demands of the 21st Century with a vital user given pride of place.
During the boom years that ended in 2008, the role of China seemed to be largely that of providing import or export cargoes often for foreign owners, although its domestic shipbuilding sector was on the way up.
But
