For the 16th consecutive year, China has retained its title as the world’s leading shipbuilding nation. New figures released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology mentions the country didn’t just hold the top spot it expanded its lead across every key metric.
China’s Total shipbuilding output reached 53.69 million deadweight tonnes (DWT) in 2025. That is an 11.4% jump compared to 2024 and accounts for 56.1% of the entire world’s 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.