China's shipbuilding tonnage jumped 30 percent to 18.93 million tons last year, the country's top economic planning agency said Saturday.

China, the world's third-largest shipbuilder after the Republic of Korea and Japan, grabbed 23 percent of the world's market share, four percentage points higher than in 2006.

Among the total, 14.9 million tons of ships in tonnage were exported to 151 countries and regions, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The number of exported tonnage rose 25.6 percent and the export value rose 51.1 percent to 12.24 billion U.S. dollars.

The country's new shipbuilding orders in tonnage soared 132 percent to 98.45 million tons last year. The figure accounted for 42 percent of the world's total, up 12 percentage points from a year earlier.

The new amount raised the total orders in tonnage the country held to 158.89 million tons, 33 percent of the world's figure. The market share was nine percentage points higher than in 2006.

During the year, China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC) and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (CSIC) built 6.55 million tons and 4.24 million tons of ships in tonnage, respectively.

The CSSC and CSIC received 23.52 million tons and 16.16 million tons of new shipbuilding orders in tonnage, respectively, last year. The two state-owned shipbuilding giants each had at hands 50 million and 26 millions of total orders in tonnage.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2008)