China's shipbuilding industry has obtained steady growth in the first quarter of 2024

China's shipbuilding sector continues to lead in the global market, with steady growth in output, new orders and orders on hand in the first quarter of 2024, showcasing the vibrant vitality of China's economy and its manufacturing sector.

Shipbuilding completions totaled 12.35 million deadweight tons (dwt), up 34.7 percent year-on-year, and the volume of new orders was 24.14 million dwt, an increase of 59 percent, reads a report released on Monday by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.

As of end-March, orders on hand stood at 154.04 million dwt, up 34.5 percent year-on-year, according to the report.

China's shipbuilding industry held a significant share of the global total in the same period, with output accounting for 53.8 percent of the global total, new orders for 69.6 percent and orders on hand for 56.7 percent, reads the report.

In April, China ranked first globally in ship orders, with 3.58 million compensated gross tons, accounting for 76 percent of the global total, data from Clarkson Research, a provider of shipping and trade data, showed on May 7.

China has firmly maintained the leading position in the global shipbuilding sector, as it kept focusing on integrating advanced technology into shipbuilding and achieving alignment with international top-tier standards, Wu Minghua, a veteran shipping analyst, told the Global Times on Monday.

"China's competitiveness in production, maintenance, services and demand of the shipbuilding sector was very high," South Korean media outlet The Hankyoreh said on May 14. As a major shipbuilding country, with advantages in research and development, South Korea hoped to collaborate with friendly countries in the commercial and specialized ship sectors, said the report.

Despite the US announcing some negative measures against China's shipbuilding sector, including an investigation in April citing unfair economic activities, and Section 301 investigations, Chinese companies have maintained a stable global position and market in shipbuilding.

Among the 18 major ship types in the world, 14 of China's ship types rank first in the world in terms of new orders.
Multiple teams tasked with simultaneously constructing 14 ships, each with different functions, are busy at work at the docks owned by Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding Co Ltd, a shipyard based in Taizhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

The company receives large shipments of various commodities and industrial equipment daily, including marine steel, fasteners, electronic components and aluminum alloy.

However, most of the oil and chemical tankers, dual fuel-powered container ships and ore carriers built in the shipyards will not be delivered to domestic shipping and energy companies.

Instead, they will go to shipowners in Norway, Greece, Denmark and Singapore, who have placed orders with the shipyard's parent company — Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, a Jingjiang, Jiangsu province-based firm — over the past two years.

"About 77 percent of our orders are LNG (liquefied natural gas)-powered container ships, dual fuel-powered vessels and diesel-electric propulsion ships, with orders on hand already scheduled through 2027 and the latest delivery extending into 2028," said Liu Yinjun, assistant president of Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding.

At the company's training center, workers are receiving training in welding and bonding operations, preparing them technically for the construction of two 175,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers. These advanced vessels are top-tier assets in the global shipbuilding industry, historically dominated by South Korean shipbuilders, and often referred to as the pinnacles of excellence.

Highlighting that Chinese shipbuilders have continuously overcome technical challenges and secured international orders, Liu said only five companies in China are capable of building LNG carriers, and his firm is the only privately owned shipbuilding company among these.

Thanks to China's complete manufacturing clusters, strong upstream and downstream industries, as well as continued investment and resource allocation in the shipbuilding sector, the country's shipbuilding output reached 42.32 million deadweight tons in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 11.8 percent, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed. The output accounted for 50.2 percent of the global total.

With improved global competitiveness, Chinese shipyards saw new orders surge 56.4 percent year-on-year to 71.2 million dwt last year, accounting for 66.6 percent of the global total.

Li Yanqing, secretary-general of the Beijing-based China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, or CANSI, said the country achieved a leading position in the global shipbuilding market by securing new orders for 14 out of 18 major ship types in 2023.

This not only solidified China's leading position in key segments, capturing more than 70 percent of the worldwide total for new bulk carrier and oil tanker orders, but also showcased the country's expertise in niche markets, as new orders for car carriers exceeded 80 percent of the global share.

Anticipating a significant surge in profitability for China's shipbuilding industry in 2024, Li said that with market prices in 2023 having risen by over 10 percent compared to the previous year, and reaching as high as 15 percent in many instances, there is strong reason to believe that the industry is poised to touch unprecedented levels of financial success in the years ahead.

With the second large cruise ship being built locally at China State Shipbuilding Corp's Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd in Shanghai, and a large number of vessels being assembled in the Yangtze and Pearl River Delta regions, the next two years will be a peak period for Chinese shipbuilding firms, marked by the delivery of various vessels, notably high-tech ones such as large LNG carriers and mega container ships, said Zeng Ji, a professor of shipbuilding at Shanghai Maritime University.

In addition to holding orders to build 13 LNG carriers for different shipowners, including eight ordered by China Merchants Energy Shipping Co Ltd, Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd said earlier this year that it had sealed a number of new ship deals, with the total order value amounting to around 15 billion yuan ($2.08 billion). Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd is a subsidiary of State-owned CSSC, and is based in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

The proportion of these high-tech, high value-added projects in the backlog of orders has significantly increased. It will have a fairly positive impact on the overall profitability of the shipyard, forming a new growth point, said Fu Wei, deputy director at the marketing department of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd.

CANSI has forecast that the global shipbuilding completion volume will remain at a historically high level of 100 million dwt in 2024, with new orders expected to be between 80 million and 100 million dwt and the volume of orders on hand remaining above 200 million dwt.

China's shipbuilding completion volume is expected to be around 45 million dwt, with new orders of around 55 million dwt this year, and orders on hand above 130 million dwt, according to CANSI.

Confronting headwinds

The United Steelworkers, an industrial union with 1.2 million members in North America, led a coalition of labor organizations to file a Section 301 petition in mid-March, urging the United States Trade Representative to start an investigation into China's commercial shipbuilding industry. The petition alleges that China's practices in this sector are "unreasonable and discriminatory", ultimately leading to their significant influence in the global shipbuilding market.

Following submission, the US government has 45 days to decide on whether to initiate an investigation in response.

Speaking at a news conference earlier this month, He Yadong, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, dismissed the accusations leveled by certain US organizations against China as "entirely baseless", and stressed that China will closely follow how it proceeds, and take necessary measures to ensure its businesses' legitimate rights.

The commerce ministry official emphasized that numerous reports have highlighted that the decline of the US shipbuilding industry primarily stems from excessive protectionism. Conversely, the growth of the Chinese shipbuilding sector has been driven by advancements in technology, emphasizing high-end, intelligent and environmentally sustainable growth.

Cao Lin, a senior analyst at Beijing-based Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, said even if shipowners do not place orders with Chinese shipyards, it is unlikely they would turn to US shipyards.

"This is because the US has been unable to effectively address a number of constraints in its shipbuilding industry for a considerable length of time, such as the development and testing of designs, the related supply chain, industrial workers and efficiency and profitability," said Cao. "From this perspective, the US shipbuilding industry is significantly behind even its European counterparts."

China's shipbuilding industry is increasingly embracing self-sufficiency, especially within its industrial and supply networks. This shift toward domestic production has significantly reduced both the time and cost associated with various projects, said Pan Helin, a researcher at Zhejiang University's International Business School in Haining, East China's Zhejiang province.

In the competitive market, the ability to deliver ships more quickly often results in more orders from shipowners, said Pan, adding that by sourcing materials locally, Chinese shipyards have not only fostered the expansion of their own industrial ecosystem, but have also seen an uptick in profitability. This strategy will continue to yield benefits for both shipyards and their international clients.

Boosted by these factors, shipyards in Jiangsu province exported 65.53 billion yuan worth of ships of various types in 2023. These included heavy-duty dredgers, wind turbine installation vessels and car carriers, marking a year-on-year increase of 37.1 percent and ranking first in export scale nationwide, statistics from Nanjing Customs showed.

According to a report released by Liaoning province-based Dalian Maritime University, the shipbuilding industry is characterized by its complexity, extensive supply chain and strong industrial connections, encompassing more than 50 diverse industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, machinery and electronics.

 一季度，全国造船完工量、新接订单量、手持订单量分别同比增长34.7%、59.0%、34.5%，以载重吨计分别占全球总量的53.8%、69.6%和56.7%。今年以来，中国船舶企业订单充足，沿海船坞一派繁忙的生产景象。新接订单占全球近七成，更是彰显并巩固了中国造船业的行业竞争优势。

 优势一：能力全面。

　　从20艘全球最大24000箱超大集装箱船，到4艘17.4万立方米大型LNG运输船、全球最大浅水航道8万立方米LNG运输船，再到一批新型深远海大型风电安装船、深远海养殖装备、浮式生产储卸油船等高端海洋工程装备，2023年，不同类别、型号、功能的一大批“中国造”巨轮先后交付，显示了中国造船企业的强大能力。2023年11月国产首艘大型邮轮“爱达·魔都号”命名交付，并于2024年1月1日正式商业首航，更是标志着我国已形成船海产品全谱系总装建造能力。

　　新时代以来，我国船舶工业不断提升创新能力、加快转型升级，在超大型集装箱船、大型液化天然气（LNG）船、高端海工装备、船舶核心配套装备等领域实现多点突破。中国船舶工业行业协会秘书长李彦庆自豪地说，“近年来，我国船舶工业的船型研发与设计能力显著提升，已经具备承接世界所有主力船型的能力。”

　　数据是最好的证明：2023年，全球18种主要船型中，中国有14种船型新接订单位列全球第一。

　　优势二：效率领先。

　　骨干造船企业基本实现三维数字化工艺模型（MBD）在设计建造全过程的应用；型材切割、小组立焊接、中组立焊接、平面分段制造、管件加工等智能制造生产线和生产设备相继研发成功；船舶分段制造、管子加工、分段涂装船舶智能化车间解决方案更加成熟……近年来，中国造船业加快智能化改造，迈出智慧造船新步伐。

　　在江南造船，过去造一艘2万箱级的大型集装箱船平均需28个月，现在依靠“数字造船”技术缩短设计周期、提升建造效率，平均只需16个月。在大连造船，建造一艘超大型油船（VLCC），只需要180天左右，领先国际同行业；用载重量除以用工数，人均吨位在18吨至20吨，比5年前提高20%左右。效率更高、成本更低，让中国造船企业得以确保订单快速高质量交付，赢得了更多海内外船东的信赖。

　　优势三：配套齐全。

　　造船是一项“巨系统工程”，零部件多、供应链长、产业关联度高。我国产业体系完备、产业链配套能力全球领先、制造业规模长年居世界首位，为包括造船在内的装备制造业提供了有力支撑和充足底气。

　　国产船用主机、船用锅炉、船用起重机、船用燃气供应系统等配套设备装船率持续提高；船用高端钢材研制能力不断增强，大型集装箱船用止裂板全部实现国产替代，化学品船用双相不锈钢国产化率由不足50%提高至90%以上；国产X92大型船用低速机曲轴锻件、风电运维船补偿栈桥、LNG船加注系统等装备实现交付……近年来，我国重点船舶配套产品研制和应用不断取得新进展，产业链韧性和安全水平持续提升。造船业及配套产业的共同进步、集体跃升，将使既有优势得以进一步增强。

　　自2020年以来，一度持续低迷的全球造船行业迎来上行周期，中国造船企业凭借硬实力闯市场、抢订单，当前手持订单量已创2014年来新高。前不久，中国船舶集团与卡塔尔能源集团举行仪式，签下18艘全球最大27.1万立方米超大型液化天然气（LNG）运输船，充分显示出我国在超大型LNG船建造领域国际影响力的进一步提升。继续巩固优势、补足短板，加快发展新质生产力，中国造船将不断为全球造船业发展提供新动力，为世界经济和人类福祉作出新贡献。