Smaller shipyards to be put into drydock

China signaled that it will cut its vast shipyard army to get industrial growth back on a healthy track this year, as its earning ability falters amid cheap vessel prices, blind expansion and speculation in the shipbuilding sector.

China will drastically curb the number of shipyards, docks, berths and maintenance facilities it opens, said Li Dong, deputy director-general at the department of equipment industry at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

"Blind investment activities in the shipbuilding sector must be restrained, especially in the regions of the Bohai Bay, Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta," Li said.