At the northern bank of the lower Yangtze River, the production lines of YZJ Shipbldg SGD are bustling with activity. At the dock, a methanol dual-fuel container ship, 274 meters long and 45.6 meters wide, is being slowly pulled out of the dry dock. After completing internal outfitting and equipment debugging, it will set sail for sea trials.

In the small riverside city of Jingjiang, Jiangsu Province, various types of oil tankers, container ships, LNG-powered vessels, dual-fuel ships, and LNG carriers are being assembled and welded one by one, delivered to shipowners (the actual vessel owners) worldwide. In 2025, Jingjiang's shipbuilding completion volume accounted for 8.5% of the global total, new orders received for 6.1% of the global total, and orders on hand for 10.9% of the global total. This means that for every 10 ships built globally, one comes from Jingjiang.

Orders continue to pour in. The latest data shows that Jingjiang's two companies, New Times Shipbuilding and YZJ Shipbldg SGD, rank second and third globally in terms of container ship orders on hand, with production schedules extending to 2030. Zooming out to a national perspective, the pace of orders is even clearer. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first half of this year, China's three core shipbuilding indicators—completion volume, new orders received, and orders on hand—all hit new historical records simultaneously. Among them, new orders received surged by 173.1% year-on-year.

Recently, reporters from the "Vibrant China Research Tour," organized by the Beijing News, visited the Jingjiang shipyard in Jiangsu Province, attempting to find the answer to why global shipbuilding orders are flooding into China.

From a Steel Plate to a Ship in Just 12 Months

A large oil tanker takes 10 months from design to the start of construction. After construction begins, it takes 12 months from cutting a steel plate to delivering the complete vessel. Jingjiang's shipbuilding efficiency is already on par with top international shipyards. From January to June this year, YZJ Shipbldg SGD received a total of 26 orders, accounting for approximately 1.1% of the global total. It holds 258 orders on hand, representing 4.4% of global orders, of which 70% are high-value-added clean energy vessels.

"Delivering two or three ships a year used to be a remarkable achievement, but now we are producing ships as quickly as making dumplings," said Zhou Kewei, Deputy General Manager of YZJ Shipbldg SGD. Since graduating in 1994 and entering the shipyard as a technician, Zhou has witnessed the entire process of China's shipbuilding industry accelerating over the past 30-plus years.

The changes are most evident in the design process. When Zhou first started, workers used to draw steel plate shapes on the ground. Now, computer 3D modeling allows every structure of the ship to be assembled in the model before construction begins. In the foreseeable future, workers will simply access design details on computers and command robots to assemble and weld components like building blocks.

Today, YZJ Shipbldg SGD has the capability to build the world's largest 24,000 TEU container ships, the world's largest 400,000-ton very large ore carriers, and 175,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers. Its shipowners are spread across the globe, including world-leading shipping companies such as Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, Japan's Ocean Network Express, and Canada's Seaspan.

Top-tier shipowners not only bring high-value-added orders but also set higher technical requirements. Faced with different shipowner demands, each vessel's type and details vary. Zhou Kewei stated that to keep pace in the fierce international competition, when YZJ Shipbldg SGD decides to develop a new ship type, performance indicators such as speed, fuel consumption, and deadweight tonnage must benchmark against the world's best or surpass them.

At the dock of New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of YZJ Shipbldg SGD, a 9,000 TEU-class methanol dual-fuel container ship built for Danish shipping giant Maersk is being moved out of the dry dock. Measuring 274 meters long and 45.6 meters wide, it will undergo sea trials and delivery after completing internal outfitting and equipment testing. "This ship is one of the few large vessels globally to use organic silicon coating. The challenge lies in the fact that the organic silicon material cannot be damaged and must meet standards in a single pass," Zhou explained. This is also the first time YZJ Shipbldg SGD has built a ship using organic silicon material, requiring extensive process innovation.

Global Shipbuilding Orders Flowing to Chinese Shipyards

"Global shipbuilding market orders are shifting massively to China," Zhou Kewei observed as a frontline shipbuilding professional. This is reflected in the numbers: data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that in the first half of this year, China's shipbuilding completion volume reached 36.5 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 51.2%. Orders on hand totaled 363.25 million deadweight tons, up 54.9% year-on-year. New orders received hit 121.06 million deadweight tons, surging 173.1% year-on-year. All three core indicators set new historical highs.

Globally, in the first half of the year, China's shipbuilding completion, new orders, and orders on hand accounted for 62.2%, 82.3%, and 71.2% of the world market share, respectively. Meanwhile, export demand was the primary driver, with export vessels making up over 90% of all three indicators. Ship export value reached $31.62 billion.

Industry insiders believe that the "order explosion" is not accidental or a stroke of luck but rather the result of decades of accumulated production capacity and technological advancements. Zhou Kewei, in an interview with the Beijing News, analyzed that the shift in international orders is partly due to the objective reasons of overseas shipbuilding industry transformation. On the other hand, China's shipbuilding capacity has been expanding rapidly, and the completeness of its industrial chain makes building ships in China more practical, increasing shipowners' confidence in placing orders in the country.

In June 2023, France's CMA CGM Group placed an order with YZJ Shipbldg SGD for a total of 10 24,000 TEU dual-fuel LNG-powered container ships, each costing $240 million. In May of this year, the first ship was officially delivered, setting a new construction record for domestic private shipyards in the field of ultra-large container ships.

Beyond order volumes, deeper changes are also taking place. At the New Yangzi shipyard, it is common to see foreign faces riding electric scooters around the compound. The reporters learned that these foreign workers are mostly resident representatives of foreign shipowners or staff from classification societies responsible for ship quality certification. However, compared to before, the number of foreigners has decreased significantly.

In Zhou Kewei's view, this small detail reflects the rapidly changing international status of China's shipbuilding industry: "On one hand, China has cultivated more and more shipbuilding professionals who are willing to work for international shipowners. On the other hand, in the past, drawings had to be sent abroad to international classification societies; now many classification societies have set up offices or global design review centers in China."

Beijing News Shell Finance Reporter Zhang Xiaohui, Editor Tao Ye, Proofreader Zhao Lin

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