China underlines role as world's premier shipbuilder

China's shipbuilding industry strengthened its global dominance in 2025, with output, new orders and order backlogs all hitting new highs, marking the country's 16th straight year as the world's largest shipbuilder.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday, shipyards in China completed 53.69 million deadweight tons, or DWT，of vessels last year, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier and accounting for 56.1 percent of global output.

New orders surged to 107.82 million DWT, securing 69 percent of worldwide demand, while the industry's order backlog climbed 31.5 percent year-on-year to a record 274.42 million DWT — equivalent to 66.8 percent of the global total.

The figures underscore China's widening lead in the three core shipbuilding metrics — completions, new orders and orderbooks — as global shipping firms continue to place large bets on fuel-efficient and next-generation vessels.

Chinese shipbuilders also strengthened their competitive standing internationally, with six firms ranking among the world's top 10 in each of the three indicators, the ministry said.

Of 18 major vessel categories, China led the world in new orders in 16, highlighting its dominance across both mainstream and specialized ship types.