Hinterland condition. As the condition of the hinterland improves, so does the port’s competitiveness. Hinterland condition includes “professionals and skilled labour in port operations”, “size and activity of Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in port hinterland” and “volume of total container cargos” of which the latter is the most important attribute. This implies that Busan and Shanghai have huge hinterlands encompassing the Korean peninsula and Chinese mainland respectively.