New data released on Thursday shows that China's shipbuilding industry continues to lead the world market despite COVID-19 disruptions.

In the first six months of the year, the country's completed orders, new orders and holding orders in the industry accounted for 45.2 percent, 50.8 percent and 47.8 percent of the international total respectively, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

In June alone, the industry shook off the temporary slump of April, with new orders topping 4.76 million deadweight tonnes (dwt), skyrocketing 107 percent compared with May.

Also in June, orders equal to 4.22 million deadweight tonnes (dwt) were completed, up 64.2 percent from May and the best level in almost two years.

"This is a marvelous achievement. The data showed that there was a solid foundation for the recovering growth we've seen since May, and proved the stability of China's shipbuilding industry in the global supply chain," said Li Yanqing, the secretary general for the China Association of National Shipbuilding Industry.

In March and April, when Shanghai – a major world production center for shipbuilding – went under COVID-19 closed management, the nation's officials pledged measures to relieve industry supply chain issues.

Read more

MIIT: China rolls out measures to tackle supply chain risks and smaller demand

Li said those policies have been gradually rolled out and are boosting the industry.

China also inked 30 new shipbuilding orders on liquefied natural gas carriers, up 6.5 times over the same period of the previous year, and taking up 32.6 percent of the global market share computed by the number of ships, according to Li.

"The positive changes in new orders have also reflected the recovery of China's shipbuilding industry and its extremely strong international competitiveness," said Li.

Business happens 'over the top' 

China's shipbuilding enterprises are seeing growth in both the number and quality of their orders thanks to their proactive approach, despite challenges to normal business negotiations. 

China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), the world's largest shipbuilder, has completed its annual goal orders equal to 10 million dwt in advance as the operation team adapted for "cloud negotiation" and "cloud signing" when traditional business procedures were switched online, revolutionizing industry traditions in a similar way to when Netflix moved media content services over the top. 

As for China Merchants Jinling Dingheng Shipbuilding, a subdivision under China Merchants Industry Holdings that specializes in making small and medium-sized chemical tankers, its general manager, Fang Yunhu, said the company has secured many repeat customers with their top ship design and high-quality services.

Meanwhile, many work reports were carried out via live streaming to speed up the delivery process. 

Li said that China's three major shipbuilding clusters among the Bohai Rim region, the Yangtze River Delta region and the Pearl River Delta region will have a very full workload in the next two to three years.