Guided by national strategies to advance high-end, smart, and green manufacturing in the new era, China has secured steady progress in its new industrialization drive. As a core industry underpinning the drive to boost maritime capabilities, shipbuilding serves as a critical benchmark gauging a country's manufacturing prowess and overall national strength. Boasting a complete industrial ecosystem and sustained technological breakthroughs, China is steadily transforming from a major shipbuilder into a global shipbuilding powerhouse. With an open mindset, it is delivering indispensable Chinese momentum to the world's shipping sector.
Ocean shipping carries over 80 percent of the world's cross-border goods trade, forming the backbone of global economic connectivity. China's shipbuilding heritage stretches back centuries. Ancient Chinese shipbuilding techniques long led the world, with innovations such as watertight compartments making landmark contributions to global maritime civilization. Turbulent social shifts in early modern times set China's shipbuilding industry on a century-long journey of grueling struggle. Following the start of the reform and opening up, China's shipbuilding sector integrated deeply into the global market. In 2010, China claimed the world's top spot across three core shipbuilding metrics: completed ship tonnage, new orders secured, and order backlog. As of 2025, it had ranked first globally in all of the three indicators for 16 consecutive years. (....)