2024-07-18 18:50:23
China’s shipbuilding industry saw significant growth in the first half of this year, consolidating its leading position globally, according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Radio China reported.
From January to June, China completed shipbuilding projects with a total of 25.02 million deadweight tons (DWT), an increase of 18.4% compared to the same period last year. New orders jumped to 54.22 million DWT, reflecting year-on-year growth of 43.9%.
As of the end of June, the order book stood at 171.55 million DWT, up 38.6% year-on-year.
The ministry’s data also show China’s dominant position in the global shipbuilding market. In the first half of this year, domestic shipbuilding completions, new orders and the backlog measured by DWT accounted for 55%, 74.7% and 58.9% of global totals respectively. In 2023, the three key market indicators were 50.2%, 66.6% and 55%.
The shipping industry is a critical pillar of global economic development and serves as a barometer of China’s macroeconomic health. This year, several of China’s ports have shown continuous growth in throughput.
For example, from January to June, Ningbo-Joushan, the world’s busiest port, handled 708 million tons of cargo, up 4.2% year-on-year, and 19.165 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) containers, up from 8.4%. According to preliminary estimates, the Port of Guangzhou handled 12.206 million TEUs, representing a growth of 6.3%.
According to the Ministry of Transport, in 2023, China’s waterway freight volume remains the highest in the world and continues to grow steadily in the first half of this year.