World's Largest Shipyard Construction

Construction of the Changxing Shipbuilding Base on Shanghai's Changxing Island, which is expected to eventually become the world's largest shipyard, has begun. This is a major step forward in China's pursuit to become the world's leading ship builder. In the first phase of the US$3.6 billion project, the Jiangnan Shipyard Corp, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is moving to Changxing Island. It is expected that the Jiangnan Shipyard will expand its capacity from the current 800,000 deadweight tons a year to 4.5 million by 2020.

In the second phase of the project, other CSSC subsidiaries, including Hudong and Waigaoqiao, will add more yards along Changxing Island's eight-kilometer coastline. By 2015, CSSC is expected to have an annual capacity of 8 million deadweight tons. By then, Shanghai will also become the world's largest shipbuilding base, tripling its capacity to 12 million deadweight tons.The country's shipbuilding industry has achieved an annual average growth of 17 percent over the past few years and China now accounts for a quarter of the world's shipbuilding market, up from less than five percent five years ago.