These shipyards drive China's dominance in the global shipbuilding industry

Leaders by ship type

Analysing each shipping segment individually, BRS Shipbrokers said Qingdao Beihai, a CSSC subsidiary, remains the leader in order backlog in the dry bulk market, with 15.2M dwt in tonnage, including 60 Newcastlemaxes and eight VLOCs.

New Times Shipbuilding leads the tanker sector, holding an orderbook of 12.6M dwt, with CSSC’s subsidiaries Dalian and SWS following closely behind. In the container vessel market, Yangzijiang continues to dominate, with 14.5M dwt of under-construction tonnage, representing 21.4% of China’s total container ship orderbook.

The LNG carrier sector, long limited to CSSC Hudong-Zhonghua, has seen significant expansion. With an orderbook of 60 vessels scheduled for delivery through 2031, Hudong-Zhonghua remains the leader. However, since 2022, four more companies, CSSC Dalian, CSSC Jiangnan, CMHI Jiangsu, and Yangzijiang, have entered the LNG carrier market, marking a shift in China’s capabilities.

Dominance in alternative-fuelled tonnage

Another defining feature of China’s shipbuilding sector is its increasing dominance in alternative-fuelled vessels. According to BRS, Chinese shipyards secured orders for 447 dual-fuel propulsion ships in 2024, up from 304 in 2023, excluding LNG carriers. This accounted for 76.9% of all dual-fuel ships ordered globally last year and 25.4% of all ships ordered in China.

Among the notable orders placed last year were 175 LNG dual-fuel and 31 methanol dual-fuel container vessels, along with 44 LNG DF and 18 methanol DF tankers, and 29 methanol DF bulk carriers.

Meanwhile, South Korea and Japan secured 13.4% and 3.4%, respectively, of the global dual-fuel orders.

Expansion wave to add 200 ships annually

Amid this surge in newbuilding activity, China has entered a new phase of shipbuilding expansion, nearly 20 years after the boom that first propelled it to global dominance. Once completed, this expansion is expected to add approximately 200 more ships per year to global shipbuilding capacity.

Analysts have identified eight newly opened or reopened shipyards, six existing shipbuilding groups that have initiated major capacity expansions, and two yards that previously served only domestic owners but have now entered the international market with fresh orders.

BRS Shipbrokers warns that uncontrolled expansion could pose risks to the industry, potentially leading to market instability. Another scenario is that China’s rapid growth may come at the detriment of Japan and South Korea, whose market shares have declined in recent years. However, this expansion could also serve to boost overall global shipbuilding capacity rather than merely shifting market share.

With geopolitical tensions remaining high, analysts note that "leaders are rediscovering the importance of shipping and shipbuilding." As a result, governments across key shipbuilding nations are resisting shipyard closures in an effort to preserve what they see as a strategic industry.

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