China Addresses Increasing Shipbuilding Capacity

According to Forbes, China is planning to implement a licensing regime for the shipbuilding industry, in a bid to force outdated production facilities out of the market, the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND) said. Regulators recently released draft rules on the licensing system which is currently subject to public comment. Firms applying for production licenses will have to meet the requirements set in the rules. It did not say when the rules will take effect.

China's overall annual shipbuilding capacity is expected to grow to 40 mln deadweight tons by 2010, outpacing the target of 23 mln dwt set by COSTIND, state media reported earlier this year. In the first half, the country's shipbuilding output increased 43 pct year-on-year to 7.55 mln dwt, accounting for 19 pct of the global total. (Source: Forbes)