CHINA'S shipbuilding industry suddenly finds it has joined the world's strongest marine engineering fleets, according to official reports.
Boosted by achievements over the past 15 years, the China Daily said the industry was aiming to enlarge its share of the world shipbuilding market to 10 per cent by 2000 - from the present four to five per cent.
Last year, China built vessels totalling three million dead weight tonnes (dwt).
Of these, the China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) built 1.64 million dwt - a little more than half - for overseas owners.
The other 1.36 million dwt were small to medium-size vessels built by shipyards belonging to different industries.
Between 1980 and last year, the CSSC had received orders for vessels totalling 14 million dwt, half from overseas, and had built 11 million dwt. The vessels, ranging from 150,000 dwt cargo carriers to roll-on/roll-off ships to accommodate 4,000 cars, were exported to more than 40 countries, the newspaper said.