The current flourishing world ship market has brought
opportunities for China to strive to be the biggest shipbuilder
with a sharp competitive edge in technological innovation rather
than low-cost labor force, a shipbuilding guru
said Sunday.
The growing orders from shipping companies worldwide will bring
great business opportunities for Chinese shipbuilders, said He
Rongguang, board chairman and general manager of the Bohai
Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.
He, a lawmaker attending the annual session of China's top
legislature, said global orders for ships have topped 100 million
deadweight tons for consecutive two years, and the demand is
expected to remain at 60 million deadweight tons annually up to the
year 2010.
China's growing need for foreign energy and mineral resources
will surely spur Chinese shipping companies to expand their
fleets.
Currently, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan, two of the
world's four shipbuilding giants, take about 70 percent of the
world's shipbuilding market, with China and the European Union
sharing 15 percent and 17 percent respectively.
Although it is very difficult for China to compete with the ROK
and Japan, especially in such high-value added products as large
liquefied natural gas and container carriers, the general manager
is still optimistic about China's chance to become the world's
biggest shipbuilder.
The draft outline of the country's next five-year development
program, currently under deliberation at the national legislature,
sets forth the goals of strengthening the shipbuilding industry by
improving the capacity for the self-design of ships and marine
equipment, and the infrastructure for building heavy ships.
"This is very important for the growth of China's shipbuilding
industry," He said.
Facing more opportunities than challenges at the booming global
ship market, the nation's shipbuilding industry should try to take
more foreign and domestic orders and ensure enough orders for the
year 2010, he said.
As the price of steel products has been a major factor affecting
China's shipbuilding industry, the general manager urged
shipbuilders to cooperate closely with steel makers to form a
stable industrial chain.
He also called for vigorous development of other industries that
provide supporting equipment, so that China will become not only
the world's shipbuilding center, but also a manufacturing center of
marine equipment.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006)