From defense to civil, biz sectors

State-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp is going beyond building navy vessels and making advanced scientific research ships. For long, it was the largest supplier of surface combatants to the Chinese Navy.

All of the Navy's Type 052D class guided-missile destroyers and Type 054A guided-missile frigates, the most powerful of their kind, were manufactured by the Beijing-headquartered CSSC. In late June, it launched the nation's largest and mightiest destroyer, the first in the Type 055 class, at its Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai.

Encouraged by government measures to boost transfer of defense-related technologies to civilian and business sectors, CSSC has been using its expertise in the research and development of naval hardware to construct high-tech civilian ships, said company officials.