China Seek to Become Largest Shipbuilder

The current flourishing world ship market has brought opportunities for China to strive to be the biggest shipbuilder with a sharp competitive edge in technological innovation rather than low-cost labor force, Xinhua reported. The growing orders from shipping companies worldwide will bring more business opportunities for Chinese shipbuilders. Global orders for ships have topped 100 million deadweight tons for consecutive two years, and the demand is expected to remain at 60 million deadweight tons annually up to the year 2010. Currently, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, two of the world's four shipbuilding giants, take about 70 percent of the world's shipbuilding market, with China and the European Union sharing 15 percent and 17 percent respectively. The draft outline of the country's next five-year development program, currently under deliberation at the national legislature, sets forth the goals of strengthening the shipbuilding industry by improving the capacity for the self-design of ships and marine equipment, and the infrastructure for building heavy ships. Facing more opportunities than challenges at the booming global ship market, the nation's shipbuilding industry should try to take more foreign and domestic orders and ensure enough orders for the year 2010. (Source: Xinhua)