Annual growth rate 9.1%! - Why China's shipbuilding industry attracts orders from the worldwide
On July 2, 2024, in the Taicang Port Economic and Technological Development Zone, China. multiple ships were under construction on the slipway.
Which Chinese export commodity was the hottest in the first half of 2024?
Ships Official data shows that China's ship export value achieved a remarkable year-on-year increase of 91.1% in the first half of the year, with the highest growth rate among key export commodities.
At present, more and more foreign shipowners are placing orders with Chinese shipyards. According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, of every ten new shipbuilding orders worldwide, more than seven go to China. Some shipbuilding enterprises disclosed that the company has received an overwhelming number of orders, and the ship order schedule has been filled until the end of 2027, and some even until 2028.
Why can Chinese ships continuously receive "world orders"?
The shipbuilding industry has entered the "fast lane"
There are three key indicators in the shipbuilding industry: completion volume, new order volume, and order backlog.
In the first half of 2024, China's shipbuilding completion volume reached 25.02 million deadweight tons; the new order volume reached 54.22 million deadweight tons; and the order backlog was 171.55 million deadweight tons. These three indicators accounted for 55%, 74.7%, and 58.9% of the world market share respectively. Meanwhile, China's international market share in shipbuilding has ranked first in the world for 14 consecutive years.
In recent years, China's shipbuilding industry has entered the "fast lane". From 2002 to 2005, China's shipbuilding output doubled from 4 million deadweight tons to 10 million deadweight tons. In 2006, the shipbuilding completion volume reached 15.87 million deadweight tons, exceeding the total of European countries. In 2008, the shipbuilding completion volume exceeded 30 million deadweight tons, and the three indicators of completion volume, new order volume and order backlog surpassed Japan in all aspects, ranking second in the world. In 2010, the shipbuilding completion volume reached 67.57 million deadweight tons, and the three indicators surpassed South Korea in all aspects, leaping to the top position in the world. "Versatile Player"
Analysts point out that an important reason why China's shipbuilding industry has been able to overtake Japan and South Korea is that it has made significant breakthroughs in the field of high-end ship types, providing more high-quality and advanced ship products for the global shipping industry.
In 2023, China was for the first time capable of assembling and building the entire product series of ship and marine products, which means that China can build all types of ships. This also means that China's shipbuilding industry has become a "versatile player".
On July 8, 2024, workers at a shipbuilding enterprise in Tongzhou District, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, were rushing to fulfill ship orders.
At present, China has collected the three "pearls on the crown" of the shipbuilding industry: large cruise ships, large liquefied natural gas carriers, and aircraft carriers.
Bai Ming, a member of the Degree Committee and researcher of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with China News Service's Guoshi Zhitongche that although China was a major shipbuilding country before, it mainly focused on low-end ship types and had a significant gap with Japan and South Korea.
However, in recent years, China has made significant breakthroughs in the field of high-end ship types, further consolidating and expanding its international market share and establishing a leading position in the global shipbuilding industry.
He said that through the development of the shipbuilding industry, not only can the country's foreign trade competitiveness be enhanced, but also the overall economic growth can be promoted.
How to "reach a higher level"?
Bai Ming believes that the future of China's shipbuilding industry should focus on several key directions: First, enhance the technological content of ships and increase the added value of products; second, strive to reduce costs and improve competitiveness while ensuring quality; in addition, continuously improve the functions and efficiency of ships; finally, make full use of the advantages of China's complete industrial chain and supply chain to ensure that each link is denser than abroad.
Li Yanqing emphasized that China's shipbuilding industry has made tremendous progress in scale and technological innovation.
In the future, it is necessary to lead the global industry in rapid and green transformation and lead many new technologies to be implanted in the traditional shipbuilding industry
