【By Guo Chaoren, Observer Net】

At the nearby Suliwan Park in Dalian, retired elderly people who have witnessed the world's tremendous changes dance to patriotic songs.

One elderly person wipes tears from their face: "The country has become strong, and we feel very proud!"

"This sense of pride is widespread throughout China," stated a report published by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on September 1st, which once again focused on China's increasingly powerful shipbuilding capabilities. Analysis points out that one of China's advantages in shipbuilding is that many shipyards supporting commercial shipbuilding can also build warships for the navy. In contrast, the United States may be unable to maintain a prolonged war due to a lack of rapid shipbuilding capability, while China can quickly deploy more assets to the sea.

The report also states that, thanks to its incredible shipbuilding capacity, the Chinese Navy is developing rapidly, and this development is rooted in national pride, which is a response to historical trauma. The Chinese government has vowed not to suffer humiliation again.

"Over the past two decades, China has heavily invested in the shipbuilding industry and reaped great rewards: over 60% of new ship orders globally this year come from Chinese shipyards. China builds more ships than any other country because it builds them faster than others."

On July 28, 2025, at the North Sea Shipyard Co., Ltd. in Qingdao, Shandong, the shipbuilding and repair site was bustling. IC Photo

The article writes that China's rise is inseparable from the sea. As the world's second-largest economy, China has seven of the ten busiest ports globally, and maritime trade sustains the country's prosperity.

Nick Childs, a maritime expert at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said, "The scale is extremely impressive... astonishing in many ways. China's shipbuilding capacity is about 200 times that of the United States."

He pointed out, "Although the U.S. Navy still has significant advantages, the gap with China is narrowing. Due to a severe decline in shipbuilding capacity for decades, the U.S. is struggling to cope."

Despite President Trump's statement to reverse the trend and issuing an executive order to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry and regain maritime superiority, Childs threw cold water: "This is an extremely challenging task."

The New York Times previously noted that Trump's dream of countering China's shipbuilding industry faces formidable challenges: American shipyards have high production costs and low efficiency. Although there are hopes to introduce automated shipbuilding technology from Japan and South Korea, long-standing issues such as a shortage of skilled workers and talent loss have been deeply ingrained. Historically, government support for the U.S. shipbuilding industry has mostly ended in failure.

Already, some U.S. politicians and scholars are concerned that China's shipbuilding industry is "simply unstoppable," and China is gaining a nearly untouchable strategic advantage.

A report by the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) states that between 2019 and 2023, the four major shipyards in Dalian, Guangzhou, Jiangnan, and Hudong Zhonghua in China produced 39 warships with a total displacement of 550,000 tons.

In comparison, the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom currently has a total displacement of approximately 399,000 tons.

Although the U.S. fleet has a larger overall tonnage, especially in large aircraft carriers, where it holds an advantage.

But China is catching up.

Alexander Palmer, a researcher at CSIS, said, "There is no indication that China will slow down (its shipbuilding pace). The number of ships is not the only measure of a navy's effectiveness, but China's ability to mass-produce warships is extremely impressive and could have strategic implications."

The article believes one of China's advantages in shipbuilding is that many shipyards supporting commercial shipbuilding can also assist in building warships for the navy.

Matthew Ford, an expert on the "China Power Project" at CSIS, said, "In any prolonged conflict, if you have shipyards capable of rapidly producing new ships, it is a huge strategic advantage. Merchant ships can transport food and other supplies to any conflict zone."

"If this capability is lacking, the U.S. may be unable to sustain a prolonged war."

He said, "This ultimately comes down to a straightforward question: Who can put more assets into the sea faster and more easily?"

"The current answer is: China."

BBC says that the "rise of China" viewed by other countries is more like a "rejuvenation" for China.

"The development of the Chinese Navy is a response to historical trauma. Between 1840 and 1949, China suffered 'great suffering' from 470 foreign invasions, and the Chinese government has vowed not to suffer humiliation again." "Many Chinese genuinely see the development of the navy as a way to correct historical injustices. The rise of the navy is not only about projecting power, but also about regaining national pride and ensuring that the memory of foreign invasions does not recur."

However, while evaluating the development of China's maritime power, BBC still wears a biased lens, with the report containing rhetoric such as "ambition" and "threat."

During a regular press conference at the Ministry of Defense on June 26th, a reporter asked whether the Fujian aircraft carrier's sea trial work was proceeding steadily as planned, and whether this meant the third aircraft carrier, Fujian, would soon be commissioned.

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, said: "Building a strong modern navy embodies the century-old aspiration of the Chinese nation. We always advance the construction of aircraft carriers according to national security needs and the development of equipment technology. From being completely impoverished in the early stages, to the commissioning of the Liaoning and Shandong aircraft carriers with ski-jump takeoff, to the Fujian aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapult capability, the People's Liberation Army Navy has continuously achieved leapfrog development in aircraft carrier construction."

"It needs to be emphasized that our development and improvement of weapons and equipment is entirely for the purpose of safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests. The Chinese military is a firm force for maintaining world peace. The more we develop, the stronger the peaceful forces that can prevent war will be."

This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Net. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7544970978376483363/

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