China Remains World’s Largest Shipbuilder In 2025

China remained the world’s leading shipbuilding nation in 2025, holding the largest market share across key indicators for the 16th consecutive year, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The data showed that China’s shipbuilding output reached 53.69 million deadweight tonnes (DWT) during the year, an increase of 11.4 per cent compared with 2024.

This production accounted for 56.1 per cent of total global shipbuilding output.

Chinese shipyards also dominated new ship orders. New contracts signed during the year totalled 107.82 million DWT, giving China a 69 per cent share of global new-build orders.

Additionally, China held the largest volume of outstanding shipbuilding orders.

By the end of December 2025, order books at Chinese shipyards stood at 274.42 million DWT, reflecting a 31.5 per cent year-on-year increase.

This volume represented 66.8 per cent of global holding orders.

The ministry’s data suggested that China’s strong performance across output, new orders and existing contracts continued to strengthen its position as the world’s leading shipbuilding nation.

Reference: China Gov

Source: Maritime Shipping News