China's shipbuilding industry is sailing away from the wind (International Discussion)

On January 2024, 1, China's first domestically produced large cruise ship "Aida Modu" launched its first commercial voyage, marking that China has the ability to build aircraft carriers, large LNG carriers and large cruise ships, and won the "three crown jewels" of the global shipbuilding industry. Foreign media have paid attention to the fact that China's shipbuilding industry leads the world in a number of indicators, and China is moving from a shipbuilding country to a shipbuilding power.

Construction capacity continues to improve

According to the website of the French newspaper Les Echos, the first large cruise ship built by a Chinese shipyard made its maiden commercial voyage is highly symbolic. The launch of the Aida Mordo marks China's entry into the large cruise ship construction market, which has hitherto been dominated by European manufacturers, especially the French Atlantic shipyards. Built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, the "Aida Modu" has a total length of 323.6 meters, a width of 37.2 meters, a gross tonnage of 13,55 tons, 2125,5246 rooms, and a capacity of <>,<> passengers, which is not inferior to large cruise ships built by Europeans.

According to a recent report on the website of Bloomberg News, the "Aida Modu" cruise ship set sail from Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port on January 1 to begin a seven-day and six-night trip, including Jeju Island in South Korea, Nagasaki and Fukuoka in Japan. The 1-storey ship features 7 distinctive restaurants and bars, including a mahjong room, a beer hall, a hot pot restaurant, a duty-free shop and a theatre that stages musicals with a distinctly Chinese twist, such as Marco Polo – A Love on the Silk Road. The cruise ship offers Chinese tourists a way to travel abroad without completely detaching themselves from the comfort of life at home.

Agence France-Presse reported that China's first domestically produced large cruise ship officially launched its commercial maiden voyage, marking the continuous improvement of high-end construction capacity as China actively seeks self-reliance in key technology fields.

The launch of the "Aida Modu" cruise ship is another milestone in the field of large-scale shipbuilding in China. According to data from the China Shipbuilding Industry Association, from January to November 2023, China's shipbuilding completions, new orders, and hand-held orders accounted for 1.11%, 50.1%, and 65.9% of the global total in terms of deadweight tonnage, respectively, ranking first in the world in all three indicators. China's shipbuilding products gradually cover all ship types in the market, with output accounting for more than 53% of the international market share, and the annual revenue of the industry exceeding 4 billion yuan. Foreign media pointed out that in recent years, China's shipbuilding industry has developed rapidly and achieved many outstanding results.

"China has become a leader in the construction of large ocean-going vessels, accounting for half of the global shipbuilding industry. South Korea's "Global Finance" published an article saying. Yonhap News Agency recently reported that according to the preliminary statistics of Clarkson Research, a British shipbuilding and shipping industry analysis agency, the global newbuilding orders in 2023 will be 4149.2446 million revised gross tons (CGT), of which Chinese shipbuilders will undertake 59.<> million CGT, accounting for <>%, ranking first in the world for three consecutive years.

Deepen cooperation in related fields

The development of China's shipbuilding industry has a positive impact on the global shipbuilding market and trade and shipping. Many foreign media have noticed that as more Chinese-made ships sail to the world, China's cooperation with other countries in trade, ports, shipping and other related fields is also deepening.

According to the website of the Russian news agency Sputnik, thanks to the advantages of cargo scale, shipbuilding and finance, Chinese shipowners are very active in the new shipbuilding market. In August 2023, the fleet size held by Chinese shipowners has reached 8.2 million gross tons, accounting for 492.15% of the market share, making it the world's largest shipowner.

Greece's "Daily News" reported that the cooperation between Greece and China in shipping infrastructure is accelerating, more and more Greek ships are being built in China, and the port of Piraeus is gradually becoming a leader in container handling in Europe. The Port of Piraeus Port Authority is controlled and operated by China COSCO Shipping Group Co., Ltd. COSCO is one of the world's largest shipping companies, with more than 1300,160 ships and global routes covering more than 1500,10 ports in <> countries and regions. George Hiradakis, president of the Hellenic Shipping Finance Association, said that in the past <> years, half of Greece's new ships have been built in China.

Foreign media have paid attention to the rapid development of China's shipbuilding industry, and the related shipping industry is also showing prosperity.

According to the American quartz financial website, China's electric vehicles are aiming to occupy a larger share of the global automotive industry, while developing into the field of automobile shipping. According to Clarkson Research, in 2022, Chinese shipyards received orders for at least 58 new car carriers, accounting for more than 86% of the total global orders. As China's EV exports surge, Chinese manufacturers are increasingly looking to have more influence over the maritime part of the automotive supply chain.

Green transformation, quality upgrading

The shipbuilding industry is known as the "crown of comprehensive industry", which demonstrates the comprehensive industrial strength of a country. In recent years, China's shipbuilding industry has not only led the world in terms of output, but also sought more breakthroughs in the field of technology. The development direction of the green transformation of China's shipbuilding industry has attracted the attention of foreign media.

The "Action Plan for the Green Development of the Shipbuilding Industry (2024-2030)" recently released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China and other five ministries and commissions mentioned that the green development of the shipbuilding industry is an important direction for the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation of the global maritime industry, and is an inevitable way for China's shipbuilding industry to achieve high-quality development.

In its report, Reuters focused on the core of the Outline. According to the report, China plans to produce more than half of the world's ships running on clean energy by 2025. China's plan to build more ships powered by low-carbon fuels such as liquefied natural gas and methanol is part of the Chinese government's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Bloomberg reported that at present, the global shipbuilding industry is facing a large-scale transformation, and shipping companies are beginning to replace fossil fuel ships with green-powered ships. In addition to planning to build more ships powered by clean energy such as liquefied natural gas and methanol, China also plans to accelerate the research and development of new transport ships such as liquid ammonia, liquid hydrogen and liquid carbon dioxide.

"With the support and encouragement of the government, the production capacity and competitiveness of Chinese shipbuilding enterprises have been continuously improved. 2019 was an important milestone, the year in which China State Shipbuilding Corporation and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation reorganized to become the world's largest shipbuilders, the U.S. Strategy Page website reported. Reasonable price and continuous improvement of quality are important reasons why China's shipbuilding industry leads the world in terms of new orders. In the future, China's shipbuilding industry will pay more attention to improving quality and forming a competitive advantage.

(People's Daily Overseas Edition Reporter Gao Qiao)