Shipbuilding giant to focus on high value-added vessels

Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd, a subsidiary of State-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, the country's primary contractor for its naval force, will shift its focus from building conventional ships to high value-added vessels to cast off the negative influence caused by the ongoing Sino-US trade dispute, said a senior executive.

Due to bilateral trade tensions, the world's goods and commodity trade activities have declined since March last year and this has severely affected shipowners' enthusiasm and banks' confidence in building new bulk vessels, chemical tankers and container ships, said Yang Zhizhong, president of DSIC.

Eager to put its revenue growth on a firmer footing, the company will focus on building very large crude carriers, liquefied natural gas carriers, floating oil and gas production units, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, as well as making innovation breakthroughs in heavy industry, new material and environmental protection products.