China reaches global top spot for shipbuilding
China’s 2020 new shipbuilding orders exceeded those of South Korea and have returned the country to the No.1 spot, says the Global Times.
According to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China’s three major indicators in the shipbuilding industry – completed ships, new orders and orders on hand – were all in leading positions worldwide in 2020 with 43.1 percent, 48.8 percent and 44.7 percent of the global market share.
South Korea and Japan respectively took 41.4 percent and 7 percent of global new shipbuilding orders in 2020, and they ranked No.2 and No.3, said the report.
The three indicators are the most important metrics in the shipbuilding industry and were all occupied by South Korea and Japan before 2010. After China led the three major indicators in 2010, South Korea obtained the highest number of new shipbuilding orders in 2018 and 2019, according to the Global Times.
The Chinese shipbuilding industry’s rise amid a global economic downturn showed its strong resilience and solid foundation, the report said, citing Li Yanqing, secretary general of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.
Wu Minghua, a Shanghai-based independent shipping industry analyst, told Global Times that China’s shipbuilding sector developed well in 2019-2020, especially for cruise ships and liquefied natural gas carriers.
“Three major sectors – container ships, oil tankers and bulk cargo carriers – built by Chinese companies also had significant increases in the last two years, and some companies can’t complete their orders on time due to the large number of orders on hand,” says Wu.
