【Wen / Observers Online Wang Yi】 Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported on February 2 that, despite the United States' attempts to issue threats to Chinese ships and cause industry turmoil, China's market dominance in the shipbuilding industry in 2025 remains solid.

The China Shipbuilding Industry Association released data on the 1st showing that in 2025, China's completed shipbuilding volume reached 53.69 million deadweight tons, an increase of 11.4% year-on-year, accounting for 56.1% of the global market; new orders received amounted to 107.82 million deadweight tons, accounting for 69% of the global market; as of the end of December, the order book reached 274.42 million deadweight tons, an increase of 31.5% year-on-year, accounting for 66.8% of the global market, setting a new historical high.

Hong Kong media noted that although the proportion of new orders received by Chinese shipyards accounted for 69% of the global market, down from 74.1% in 2024, it still maintained a clear gap with its competitors. Compared with other countries, as the world's second-largest shipbuilding country, South Korea saw its market share rise to 21.6% last year, while Japan dropped from 7.1% to 6.2%.

Shipbuilding site at Yangzhou COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. IC Photo

The report pointed out that the shipbuilding industry became an important focus of Sino-US friction in 2025. Feeling anxious about the gap between itself and China's shipbuilding industry, the U.S. raised the slogan of "revitalizing the shipbuilding industry" and unreasonably imposed port charges on Chinese ships. In response, China took countermeasures and imposed special port charges on American ships.

Although both sides agreed during talks in late October last year to suspend the relevant measures for one year, this gave South Korea an opportunity. The Korean Herald cited Seoul analysts last month, saying that the U.S. plan to impose port fees on Chinese ships could bring "unexpected gains" to South Korean shipyards, making them a strategic alternative. Currently, South Korea is jointly advancing the "MASGA" (Make American Shipbuilding Great Again) project with the U.S., discussing how to deepen shipbuilding cooperation.

However, South Korean industry insiders told the newspaper that although U.S. restrictions on China might allow South Korean shipbuilders to gain a larger share in the global shipbuilding market, China still holds an advantage in price competitiveness.

The Chosun Ilbo noted that China is currently shifting from "quantity-based" to "quality-based" competition. After no longer primarily relying on low-price competition, China is accelerating its efforts in technological fields such as ecological environmental protection ships. Although South Korea maintains certain advantages in high-value-added ships like LNG carriers, its key challenge lies in ensuring leadership in emerging markets such as green ships and autonomous vessels.

Analysts pointed out that South Korea cannot compete with China in labor costs, so it must transform into an "intelligent industry," integrating information and communication technology with defense industry and integrated engineering capabilities. However, China is also deeply integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence into shipbuilding.

The South China Morning Post also mentioned that in addition to maintaining the largest share of new ship orders, China's ship completion volume in 2025 continued to lead, reaching 53.69 million deadweight tons, accounting for 56.1% of the global market, higher than 55.7% in 2024. At the same time, South Korea's share of completed shipbuilding was 23.6%, slightly lower than 24.2% in 2024.

Li Yanqing, vice chairman of the China Shipbuilding Industry Association, said at the end of last month that after decades of development, China has grown into a leader in the global shipbuilding industry, with a clear gap from its competitors. "Fluctuations of a few percentage points in market share are completely normal. At this stage, China does not need to overfocus on marginal changes," he said.

Data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on the 1st showed that in 2025, China's shipbuilding industry maintained the top position globally in three major indicators, continuing for 16 consecutive years as the world's number one.

In addition, in 2025, the international competitiveness of China's core shipbuilding enterprises continued to strengthen. Six companies ranked in the top 10 for shipbuilding completions, new orders, and order books. Among 18 main ship types, 16 types had the highest new orders in the world. Several world-class green and intelligent ships were delivered, achieving significant breakthroughs in high-end transformation.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer.com. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: toutiao.com/article/7602286543356609078/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.