China’s shipbuilding industry maintained its global lead across all major indicators in 2025, marking its 16th consecutive year at the top of the market, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on February 1.
China’s shipbuilders delivered 53.69 million deadweight tonnes (dwt) of vessels during the year, an increase of 11.4% from 2024, accounting for 56.1% of global shipbuilding completions.
New shipbuilding orders reached 107.82 million dwt, giving China a 69.0% share of worldwide contracting activity, the data showed.
The country’s order backlog stood at 274.42 million dwt at the end of December 2025, up 31.5% year on year and representing 66.8% of the global total, underscoring the strength of its forward pipeline.
The figures highlight China’s continued dominance of the global shipbuilding market, supported by strong demand across commercial vessel segments and a growing backlog of future work.
