Photo: Screenshot from CSSC website

China State Shipbuilding Co (CSSC), the world's largest shipbuilding conglomerate, has inked fruitful deals with international partners at the ongoing China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, with a total value of $450 million, a big jump of 205.5 percent year-on-year. 

The deals involve 21 cooperative projects with 18 international partners. The projects involve supporting equipment in the field of shipbuilding, ranging from diesel generator sets to communication systems and LNG gas supply systems. CSSC said it was a reflection of the Chinese shipbuilder's contribution to the growing prosperity of the market and the global supply chain.

CSSC has been an active participant in previous CIIEs and a firm practitioner of trade liberalization and economic globalization, the company said in a statement over the weekend.

Since the official signing of the construction contract for six Vista-class cruise ships at the first CIIE, a number of important contracts have been signed at each expo since then and the projects have been going well.

For example, China's first large-scale cruise project, which has attracted much attention, has begun key internal installation and system completion and commissioning, and is expected to be delivered in 2023, the company said.

Li Yanqing, secretary-general of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, told the Global Times on Monday that the recent shipbuilding cooperation agreements show China's active participation in the global industrial division of labor and also its role as a major player in the world shipping industry.

"The shipbuilding industry is a global industry and we offer value-for-money products for international clients," Li said.

China is also dedicated to making more home-made equipment for shipbuilding, a trend that will increase, especially for LNG ships, Li said.

China's shipbuilding industry has become an increasingly important and reliable player for the world, at a time when international demand for LNG ships is booming amid geopolitical conflicts and energy problems in Europe.

Driven by global demand, China's shipbuilding industry has shown strong resilience and vitality in the first three quarters of this year, maintaining a good development momentum.

From January to September, the international market share of China's major shipbuilders continued to grow, and the industry's revenue and profits achieved double-digit growth, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. 

Also, in the same period, the country's shipbuilding completions accounted for 45.9 percent of the global total while new orders took 53.6 percent in terms of deadweight tons.