China secured the most new shipbuilding orders globally in 2025 despite a slight dip in market share, showing enduring market dominance amid industry turbulence sparked by US threats targeting the Chinese maritime sector, official data showed.
Chinese shipyards secured 107.8 million deadweight tonnage (DWT) in new orders in 2025 – a 4.6 per cent year-on-year decline – accounting for 69 per cent of the global market, down from a 74.1 per cent share in 2024, according to data released on Sunday by the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (Cansi).
“After decades of development, China has emerged as the global leader in shipbuilding, establishing a significant lead over its competitors,” Li Yanqing, secretary general of Cansi, told the South China Morning Post late last month. “Minor fluctuations of a few percentage points in market share are entirely normal; at this stage, it is no longer necessary for China to fixate on these marginal shifts.”
In 2025, China’s major shipbuilders further strengthened their global competitiveness by securing the top spot in new orders for 16 out of 18 major vessel types, state broadcaster CCTV said on Sunday.
South Korea saw its share of new orders rise from 15.5 per cent in 2024 to 21.6 per cent in 2025, while Japan’s share slipped from 7.1 per cent to 6.2 per cent over the same period, the data showed.
China has maintained its global lead in three major shipbuilding indicators – vessel completions, new orders and outstanding orders – for 16 consecutive years, according to a statement from Cansi on Sunday.
The shipbuilding industry emerged as a primary flashpoint of US-China tensions last year after Washington unveiled a port-fee plan targeting China’s maritime sector while vowing to revive its own. The move prompted Beijing to respond with countermeasures, though both sides agreed to a one-year pause following crunch talks in late October.
South Korea, the world’s largest shipbuilder after China, has seized an opportunity to strengthen its role as one of Washington’s key allies in Asia by offering to support the revival of the American shipbuilding industry. Analysts in Seoul were viewing Washington’s proposed port fees on Chinese vessels as a potential windfall, positioning Korean shipyards as a strategic alternative, The Korea Herald reported late last month.
In addition to retaining the largest market share in new orders, China continued to lead in vessel completions in 2025, reaching 53.7 million DWT – an 11.4 per cent year-on-year increase. This accounted for 56.1 per cent of the global share, up from 55.7 per cent in 2024, according to Cansi data.
South Korea followed with a 23.6 per cent share in 2025, a slight decline from the 24.2 per cent recorded in 2024.
Chinese shipyards’ outstanding orders reached 274.4 million DWT, accounting for 66.8 per cent of the global market.
Chinese shipyards currently hold a three- to four-year order backlog, with production schedules at full capacity, Li said in an interview with CCTV that aired on Sunday.
The world’s largest shipbuilder was also said to have exported vessels totalling more than US$55 billion in value last year, significantly higher than the previous year’s US$43.4 billion.
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