From beating us in the number and tons loads, here is how China built its shipping empire

New Delhi: The Indian Navy plans to become a 200-ship strong force by 2027. But in 2019, it revised its target by 170 citing an acute financial crunch. In contrast to sugar. In the last two decades, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (Plan) has increased with a minor coastal force in a regional juggling, which was manufactured with frigates, distrients, submarines and aircraft carriers and commissioned at a record speed.

By 2022, the scheme was operating a battle force fleet of 351 ships, crossing 294 of the US Navy.

According to Washington -based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China has already overtaken the US Navy in terms of counting of plow, and is Fast fleet And major technologies such as vertical launch system (VLS) missile cells. By 2024, Chinese surface fighters deployed half VLS cells of their American counterparts in 2019 in 2019.

This clear development is complex with the fact that Chinese naval forces are mainly concentrated in Indo-Pacific, while American forces have been spread globally.

Since 2010, China dramatically reduced tonne trenches with the US from about 4 million tonnes to 1.6 million tonnes.

China’s emergence as a global shipbuilding powerhouse began with major policy changes initiated in the early 2000s. Assuming that the rapid growth of contained marine trade would be a boon for global shipbuilders, Beijing began to develop ambitious plans to place Chinese firms at the forefront of the industry. In 2002, at that time, Chinese chief and chief economic architect Zhu Rongji visited the CSSC headquarters, where he announced that China would “seek” the largest ship -making country “by 2015.

Since 2003, China has released at least 25 national level schemes associated with the shipbuilding sector.


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Shipping dominance of China: a global change

After producing less than 5 percent of the world’s weight load in 2000, Chinese shipyards now account for more than half of total commercial production.

East major Japanese and South Korean shipbuilders have experienced a decline in production since 2011 as Shippers around the world now order more with the Chinese shipyard to upgrade their fleet.

In a report made public in January, former US trade representative Catherine Tai said US Today is ranked 19th Commercial ship manufactures in the world, and each year makes less than five ships. On the other hand, China, forms more than 1,700 ships annually.

“In 1975, the number one place in the United States was at number one, and we were building more than 70 ships a year,” Tai said.

Tai launched an investigation under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act in April 2024 at the request of the United Steelworkers and four other unions, which allows the US to punish foreign countries to engage in “unfair” or “unfair” acts, or burden American commerce.

The Trump administration is trying to push back with a proposal to increase the entry fee levied on maritime operators with Chinese-made ships, calling up to US $ 1.5 million at US ports.

In California-facilitated Think Tank Rand Corporation in A August 2024 Report Said that from 2000 to 2023, Chinese shipbuilders received contracts for 21,600 ships with total weight of 270.4 million, which compensate GDP. “The work was won in 917 different shipyards and produced 132 unique types of ships. In the early 2000s, perfection at the peak of 1,797 ships built in 2011, from 266 in 2003. At the time of completion after 2011, the recent low of 741 reached the recent low in 2020, the average compensation increased from 8,749 CGT in 2003 to 17,095 in 2023.

It said that on the other hand, the Navy ship construction experienced its lowest production rates from 2003 to 2009, there was 250,000 active tonnes under construction during those years. The number doubled in 2010, which reached the top of more than 800,000 active tonnes in 2014.

CSSC and Military Corresponding Fusion Strategy

China is at the center of China’s success is the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), which is the world’s largest ShipbuilderWhich has built more commercial ships than tonnes in 2024 compared to the entire American shipbuilding industry, since World War II. Working under the firm hold of China’s political leadership, CSSC plays an important role in China’s “military-citizen” strategy, which wants to integrate China’s commercial and defense sectors.

This strategy enables China to avail commercial revenue to subsidize military ship construction, allowing rapid expansion of the plan at low cost.

The CSIS report earlier quoted that foreign buyers are responsible for the vast majority of shipbuilding in China’s industry, but especially in Tier -1 and Tier -2 yards. More than 75 percent of CSSC production is served international customers – including American allies, Japan, Greece and Denmark, in addition to Taiwan.

It states that this global trade indirectly supports China’s naval modernization. The CSIS also said that, by purchasing ships from these yards, foreign firms have made a revenue of billions of dollars in institutions that are central for modernization of China’s Navy.

The report stated, “The material required for both commercial and military shipbuilding, given the adequate overlap in input, production techniques, personnel and infrastructure, the commercial revenue effectively subsidize China’s naval expansion,” the report states.

Adding, “By offseting fixed costs, these earnings enable Chinese shipyards to score military production more efficiently and at low marginal expenditure. Even when military and commercial production is not co-located, shared ownership structures between many major commercial and military shipyards enable assets and procedures easily to transfer to civil-monetary division. ,

The report said, “Foreign firms have also provided China’s defense contractors with a major dual -use ship -making technology through joint ventures, licensing agreements and direct procurement. These transfers have been required to enable the plan to remove significant technical obstacles in areas such as marine prophesion. ,

Since this in 2012, Xi Jinping has been in power, Beijing has intensified efforts to convert China into a strong maritime power. “

But when it ranks among the world’s major defense contractors, CSSC produces a large part of its revenue from civil production. In 2023, only 23 percent of its revenue came from defense, below the global average 56 percent for major defense firms. In contrast, one of the world’s key commercial aircraft manufacturers, American legendary Boeing, more than 40 percent of its revenue, depends on the defense for CSIS notes.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)


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