(MENAFN- Asia Times)
Commercial ships are becoming the next US-China trade war flashpoint as Washington accuses Chinese shipbuilders of deploying non-market practices to win global market share.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) has called for responsive actions after its Section 301 investigation found that China's practices in shipbuilding, maritime and logistics have all undermined fair competition.
The USTR released its findings on January 16, the same day the Chinese Ministry of industry and Information technology (MIIT) announced that China was the world's top shipbuilding nation for the 15th consecutive year in 2024.
The MIIT said China's shipbuilding completion volume in 2024 accounted for 55.7% of the global total, meaning over half of the ships delivered globally last year were built in China. China's shipbuilding industry's new orders accounted for 74.1% of global volume and orders on hand accounted for 63.1%.
The MIIT said China completed 48.18 million tons of shipbuilding orders last year, up 13.8% from 2023. Newly received orders totaled 113.05 million tons, marking a substantial 58.8% rise year-on-year, while the order backlog reached 208.72 million tons, a 49.7% jump.
It added that China ranked first in new orders for 14 of the 18 mainstream ship types globally such as multi-purpose vessels, auto carriers and container ships.
Data from China's General Administration of Customs showed that the country exported 5,804 ships in 2024, a 25.1% increase from 2023. The total export value surged to $43.38 billion, up 57.3% year-on-year.
China's new shipbuilding orders for green power vessels represented 78.5% of the global market last year, compared with 31.5% in 2021, according to state-run China Central TV.
“China now is capable of building nearly all advanced types of ships, from 24,000-TEU-level vessels to liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers and cruise ships,” Zheng Ping, chief analyst at industry portal Chineseport, told the Global Times. TEU refers to“twenty-foot equivalent unit,” a unit of cargo capacity used for shipping.
“From steel and aluminum products, photovoltaic panels, to new energy vehicles and ships, the US has accused China of having 'unfair' competition, completely exposing the absurdity of its concept of 'fairness',” Bao Nan, a columnist at the Beijing Daily, writes in an article .
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