Witness Chinese Vessels Set Sail for the World
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China’s three major shipbuilding indicators have ranked first in the world for 14 consecutive years. In 2023, China’s shipbuilding output reached 42.32 million deadweight tons (DWT), up 11.8% year on year; new orders hit 71.20 million DWT, an increase of 56.4%; by the end of 2023, handheld orders stood at 139.39 million DWT, rising 32.0% year on year. For the first time, all three indicators achieved double-digit growth.
Hu Zhen, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and a researcher at the China Ship Scientific Research Center, stated that China’s shipbuilding industry has maintained a sound momentum of steady improvement, progress and upgrading, with all-round breakthroughs in marine vessel and equipment development.
China’s shipbuilding industry is sailing forward with favorable winds. On January 1 this year, Adora Magic City, China’s first domestically built large cruise ship, officially launched its commercial maiden voyage, marking that China has established full-spectrum general assembly and construction capabilities for marine vessels and equipment. With this achievement, China has successfully captured the three “crown jewels” of the global shipbuilding industry: aircraft carriers, large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, and large cruise ships.
Behind these remarkable achievements lies the profound accumulation of the comprehensive strength of the shipbuilding industry. Member Hu Zhen pointed out that the shipbuilding industry has adhered to innovation-driven development, focused on fostering new-quality productive forces, continuously improved its overall ship technology system, and made constant breakthroughs in key generic technologies for equipment, playing a vital role in advancing the high-end development of marine equipment.
How can we better leverage the strengths of the shipbuilding industry and accelerate the development of a strong maritime country? “Basic research and technological innovation are the key to achieving high-level self-reliance and strength in science and technology,” said Hu Zhen. He stressed the need to fully utilize existing technological reserves and application achievements, continue to promote basic, systematic and cutting-edge technological research, and consolidate the foundation for deep-sea scientific and technological innovation.
The vast ocean holds unlimited potential. A new path of industrialization enabled by digital technologies and aligned with green growth goals is the choice for the high-quality development of the shipbuilding industry. Looking ahead, Hu Zhen suggested strengthening forward-looking and key technological planning, leveraging artificial intelligence, digitalization and other technologies to explore the intelligent transformation and upgrading of deep-sea equipment, and propelling China’s shipbuilding industry to voyage further into the deep blue.