China surpasses Greece and becomes the world's largest shipowner

China surpasses Greece and becomes the world's largest shipowner. Advanced manufacturing supports the rapid growth of China's fleet.
Time: 2023-08-21   Source: CCTV.com
 

The latest data shows that from January to July this year , China's shipbuilding industry ranked first in the world in three major indicators, continuing to lead the world. At the same time, the fleet size held by Chinese shipowners reached 249.2 million gross tons, surpassing Greece for the first time to become the world's largest shipowner.
 

At China Shipbuilding Hudong-Zhonghua, a batch of newly contracted 174,000 -cubic-meter LNG carriers officially started construction. This time, the shipyard received a total of 2 orders, which also brought the number of LNG carrier orders held by Hudong-Zhonghua to nearly 50 , setting a new high. .
 

From January to July 2023 , China's shipbuilding completion volume was 24.09 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 15.6 % ; the number of new orders received was 44.76 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 74% ; the number of orders on hand was 127.9 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 23.4% . Not only do the three major indicators rank first in the world, but the added value of the ship types on orders received is also getting higher and higher.
 

In addition, thanks to the rapid growth of my country's economy and trade, the fleet size of Chinese shipowners has developed rapidly. As of now, the size of the fleet held by Chinese shipowners ranks first in the world.
 

This year, China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s completed and delivered ships accounted for 18.6% of the world’s total , ranking first among global shipbuilding companies. A number of high -end ship types, including the world's largest ultra-large container ship, an 80,000 -square-meter river-sea intermodal LNG ship, and the world's first M350 offshore floating storage and offloading oil tanker, were successfully delivered.

Li Yanqing , Secretary-General of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association : China's shipbuilding industry and shipping industry are a joint research and development process. We have more and more independent designs and more independent supporting facilities. We are seizing opportunities to develop and build our maritime and transportation power in the general trend.
 

Greece has always been the world's largest ship-owning country because of its well-known shipping kings and many shipping companies. According to the latest data from Clarkson Research, a world-renowned shipping research organization: China has surpassed Greece to become the world's largest shipowner in terms of gross tonnage. At present, the fleet size held by Chinese shipowners has reached 249.2 million gross tons, with a market share of 15.9% . The focus of world shipping is shifting.
China surpasses Greece to become the world's largest shipowner
 

At Dalian COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, construction of nearly 10 ships ordered by Chinese shipowners is being stepped up. This year, more than 80% of all new shipbuilding orders placed by shipyards come from Chinese shipowners. Wang Yu, Executive Director of Dalian COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd .: The entire new shipbuilding market is still relatively hot at present. Based on the urgency of shipowners’ demand for ships, major shipyards are also ramping up their efforts. For example, the ships recently delivered by our company are all Basically slightly ahead of schedule. Major shipowners are also placing orders for container ships. Our Chinese shipyards are actually more willing to give limited slipway resources to our domestic shipowners to build, allowing them to invest in a larger shipping market.
 

The latest data shows that my country’s shipowners’ leading fleet size is mainly due to the rapid growth of my country’s economy and trade. After more than 20 years of rapid development, China has become the world's second largest economy, with a total economic volume of US$ 15 trillion. China's foreign trade has also ranked first in the world, accounting for 12.5% of the world's total foreign trade . Becoming the largest ship-owning country demonstrates my country’s status in the international shipping industry.

Zhang Shouguo, Executive Vice President of the China Shipowners Association : Becoming the largest shipowner has greatly enhanced our confidence in developing the shipping industry. The increase in fleet size has brought about greater shipping power, shipping resources, and shipping talents, which has also enhanced The strength and ability of our shipping industry to serve the national economy and trade has laid a better foundation for achieving the goal of becoming a shipping power.
 

Advanced manufacturing supports the rapid growth of China’s fleet
 

What supports Chinese shipowners’ largest fleet in the world is not only the recovering shipping industry, but also my country’s advanced shipbuilding industry. In the first half of this year, my country ranked first in the world in terms of shipbuilding completions, new orders, and orders on hand, and its shipbuilding capabilities have ranked among the world's advanced. As the scale of Chinese shipowners' fleets gradually expands, shipowners are placing more and more orders for Chinese shipyards. To this end, the shipyard has greatly improved shipbuilding efficiency through the introduction of new technologies and intelligent management of production lines.
 

Wang Yu , Executive Director of Dalian COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd .: Our shipyard has also invested a lot of money in green development of intelligent manufacturing, installed a number of advanced intelligent manufacturing equipment, and increased corresponding manpower. The popularity of the market has driven shipowners and customers to have greater demand for early delivery of ships. By improving their production capabilities, they can deliver projects early and bring better benefits to shipowners.
 

Not only has production technology progressed, the shipbuilding industry has also provided equipment support for the autonomy of our country's fleet. The proportion of Chinese shipping companies ordering ships domestically is 100%. Relying on our country's world-leading construction capabilities and construction levels, we can truly provide services to the ocean. A strong country and a strong transportation country contribute their strength.

Li Yanqing, Secretary-General of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association : The construction of China's fleet presents many new technical features, which will inevitably put forward new construction demands for the Chinese shipbuilding industry. The close cooperation between China's shipbuilding industry and shipping industry is a process of joint research and development. Vigorously promote close cooperation between upstream and downstream shipbuilding and shipping companies and share the market, which invisibly creates opportunities for us. 

Structural optimization Chinese shipowners begin placing orders for high value-added ships
As the scale of Chinese shipowners gradually grows, the types of ships required are becoming more and more diverse. Domestic shipyards have also begun to accept orders for high value-added ship types from Chinese shipowners this year, such as LNG ships, also known as liquefied natural gas ships. China Shipbuilding Dalian Shipbuilding has undertaken a total of 34 shipbuilding orders so far this year, including 13 orders from domestic shipowners , 10 of which are high value-added ships - LNG carriers. Compared with previous years, this year the shipyard has received a new high in LNG carrier orders from domestic shipowners .
 
Li Lin , Assistant Director of the Marketing Department of Dalian Shipbuilding of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Chief of the Civilian Ship Operations Section : According to our factory, the ship types ordered by Chinese shipowners this year are increasingly high-tech and high-added value. The main ship types include LNG carriers and other Some types of bulk carriers. The total contract value this year reached 24 billion yuan. According to the contract value statistics, Chinese shipowners accounted for about 56% of the orders .
 

As a high value-added ship type, LNG carriers are capable of being built by individual shipyards in only five countries around the world. However, as shipbuilding capabilities continue to increase, China currently has three shipyards with the ability to build LNG carriers, which has greatly shortened the construction cycle of domestic LNG carriers. The improvement of capabilities has brought new demands. Shipowners in the energy field such as China Gas have begun to place orders to expand their own fleets in the energy field to enhance their comprehensive strength.
 

Li Yanqing, Secretary-General of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association : China's fleet construction has made great progress, but we still need a more balanced structure to meet the needs of bulk product import and export. The development of China's economy has provided us with a foundation. The shipping and shipbuilding industries have followed the rhythm of the entire market and seized opportunities to develop in the general trend. Chinese shipyards are ready to support the construction of our Chinese fleet's independent fleet.