China is building more container ships this year than last year, new data shows.
According to data released by China’s National Shipbuilding Industry Association, China’s total shipbuilding output in the period between January and April amounted to 12.8 million deadweight tonnage (DWT), up 9.3 percent year-over-year.
During the period in question, orders for new ships increased by 29% year-over-year to 19.85 million DWT, while orders from shipbuilding companies increased by 12.3% year on year to DWT 115.06 million at the end of April.
China continues to lead the world in new ship orders.
In the January-April period of the year, ship production and new ship order tonnage in China accounted for 44.9% of the total ship production and 65.5% of the new ship order tonnage in the global market.
At the end of these four months, Chinese orders accounted for 51.3% of total orders in the global market.
China continues to push in many ways to advance its infrastructure in global logistics and the supply chain, but challenges remain.
While China’s supremacy on shipbuilding is noted, the country’s push to grow other supply chain and trade infrastructure recently took another hit with Italy being the highest-profile country to drop out of its participation in the One Belt and Road Initiative.
