Riding the Wind and Breaking the Waves, People's Financial Review: Strong Shipbuilding Power of a Great Country | High end | Financial Review

Great power shipbuilding is accelerating its progress. After the successful launch of domestic aircraft carriers and domestic liquefied natural gas ships, China's first domestically produced large cruise ship was successfully docked in early June and left the dock on July 17th for its first trial voyage.

Large cruise ships were the only high value-added ship type that China had not yet conquered. For a period of time, China has only accounted for one link in the cruise economy chain, namely "consumption". In October 2019, China's first domestically produced large cruise ship, "Aida Modu", started construction and ignited at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., fully entering the substantive construction phase. After successfully undocking on June 6th this year, the "Aida Modu" completed a series of tests including bow side propulsion equipment dock mooring test, paralyzed ship test, and power loss test before the trial voyage. Before the trial voyage, the entire ship's interior installation area had reached a light state. During the trial phase, comprehensive verification of various functions such as power and propulsion systems, fire protection, fire alarm, life saving, communication and navigation, vibration and noise, and safe return to port will also be carried out, aiming for comprehensive delivery within the year. This also means that in the near future, China's shipbuilding industry will take off the third "crown jewel" of the shipbuilding industry after LNG ships and domestic aircraft carriers, becoming the only country to gather these three "pearls".

The shipbuilding industry of a great country is filled with the courage to climb new heights and achieve victory. As the most complex single unit electromechanical product in the world, large cruise ships have long been monopolized by only a few European shipyards due to their unique structure, diverse systems, complex processes, arduous design and construction, and global supply chain collaboration. With the accelerated transformation and upgrading of China's shipbuilding industry, the continuous improvement of construction capacity, and breakthroughs in technological strength in the fields of ultra large container ships, LNG ships, etc., the gap in domestic manufacturing of large cruise ships is also bound to be filled. From project initiation to formal construction, from building in millimeters as the precision unit, to successively overcoming multiple core technologies that run through the entire lifecycle of cruise ships, such as weight control, vibration reduction and noise reduction, and safe return to port, and forming a series of technological innovation achievements, the coordinated operation of 136 systems and accurate adaptation of 25 million parts on the ship all demonstrate the strength and courage of the shipbuilding team to face challenges and overcome difficulties, as well as the spirit of China's shipbuilding industry constantly climbing to new heights and striving for excellence.

The shipbuilding of a great country reflects the strong support of a country's comprehensive industrial strength. Looking inward, China's shipbuilding industry has reached a strategic juncture of transitioning from large to strong, and external competition in the international market is becoming increasingly fierce. Winning in competition is supported by the country's strong comprehensive industrial capabilities. The loading rate of domestic marine engines, boilers, cranes, and gas supply systems for ships continues to increase; The development capability of high-end steel for ships is constantly increasing; The new model of "double dock and double track" construction has been launched... In 2022, China's international market share in three indicators of shipbuilding completion, new orders received, and orders held has remained the world's first, and China's shipbuilding industry has ranked first in the world's international market share for 13 consecutive years; From January to June this year, China's shipbuilding completion volume, new orders received, and handheld orders accounted for 49.6%, 72.6%, and 53.2% of the world's total in terms of deadweight tons, respectively, ranking first in the world. At present, China has formed a series of shipbuilding bases from the Bohai Bay Rim, the Yangtze River Estuary to the the Pearl River Estuary. Backed by the only powerful country in the world with all industrial categories listed in the United Nations industrial classification, China's shipbuilding industry is riding the wind and waves, accelerating its progress.

In the shipbuilding industry of a great country, it is particularly important to have a clear view of the scenery. According to the law of international cruise economy development, when the per capita GDP of a country or region reaches 6000-8000 US dollars, the cruise economy comes with it. From 2006 to 2017, the average annual growth rate of cruise passenger transportation in China was over 40%. In 2019, international cruise ships departed from their home ports of Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities on 735 voyages, driving 1.993 million trips and becoming a new highlight of economic growth. On the one hand, compared to the booming market demand, the global large-scale cruise ship construction capacity is significantly insufficient, while China has a shipbuilding power and huge market advantage; On the other hand, the cruise economy has a long industrial chain and strong driving force, which is of great significance for cultivating new economic drivers, effectively driving domestic demand, and promoting consumption transformation and upgrading. To vigorously develop the cruise industry, we also need to build our own cruise ships. The Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Cruise and Yacht Equipment and Industry and Several Opinions on Promoting the Development of China's Cruise Economy have been successively issued, proposing the development goals of "by 2025, the preliminary construction of the cruise and yacht equipment industry system, the completion and delivery of domestically produced large cruise ships, the acceleration of medium-sized cruise ships, and the mass construction of small cruise ships" and "by 2035, China's cruise market will become one of the most dynamic markets in the world, with an annual passenger transportation volume of 14 million cruise ships". As a country with the world's most complete ship product spectrum and final assembly supporting system, as well as the largest scale ship production and construction capacity, China Shipbuilding will seize the opportunity and make great achievements.

Shipbuilding in a great country, backed by a thriving country, benefits from a vibrant era. From the mass delivery of high-end ship types such as 174000 cubic meters of large LNG ships, to the delivery of the fourth generation of self elevating wind power installation ships, and the imminent delivery of the first domestically produced large cruise ship, China's shipbuilding industry is holding its head high and rapidly joining the "representative team" of China's high-end equipment manufacturing to participate in global competition.