A general view of a Chinese shipyard at Yantai Port in East China's Shangdong Province, on December 4, 2024

There is positive news regarding the marine industry, also known as the "Blue Economy," from the 2024 China Marine Economy Expo (CMEE), which was held recently in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, in the center of the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

China's performance in 2023 showed a 123.5 percent growth rate and 3 percent increase in annual activity, which bodes well for the current year; industrial output grew by 4 percent on an annual basis, particularly for the GBA.

About 30 Chinese companies have improved their access to the stock market by raising 5 billion dollars for the development of offshore wind power plants, oil and gas drilling stations, fisheries, and tourism.

Sun Shuxian, vice minister of natural resources, said at the opening of the fair that the sea economy has a new mission to promote high-quality development and openness.

This dynamism is also evident in the shipbuilding industry, even though it is unrelated to the fair's themes but benefits from investment, particularly in technology. 

According to recent statistics, this industry currently controls the majority of the market and will continue to do so.

Along with gas vessels, RoRo vessels, bulk commodity vessels, and military vessels, China is a leader in the construction of container ships, cruise ships, and more.

In the race for the top spot with the US, China is unquestionably the leader in the fields of electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and finally, the shipbuilding industry.

The degree to which this race fosters strategic aggression is further demonstrated by two recent instances. 

Founded in 2006, Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industry is situated in the Yangtze River Delta, which includes Shanghai. 

Prior to its financial collapse in 2014, it was the largest manufacturer of ships, Valemax cargo vessels, or the largest bulk vessels in its four dry docks.

Now, after a major financial injection that has allowed its reopening, it was able to win a contract for the construction of dual-fueled liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels with a capacity of 11,500 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers for the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the first shipping company in the world rank. This will help increase the overall capacity of the sector by 1 percent.

At the same time, Rongsheng is in discussion with the marine company ONE (Ocean Network Express) for the construction of two port container ships.

Another example is China's Jiangxi New Jiangzhou Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, which specializes in the Guangdong area for the construction of gas tankers and for the transport of chemical products. Its customers are mainly domestic, as is the Chinese company Shenzhen Haihong Shipping, which has ordered a 7,000-cubic-meter ship of volumetric capacity for the transport of ethylene.

According to recent data, there is a clear trend of Chinese dominance, with South Korea and Japan holding dominant positions despite having smaller tonnages. 

In fact, China has built 51 percent more ships than the rest of the world since the pandemic in 2023, and 90 percent of the ships that are delivered are from the Far East.

According to data from Clarkson Research, South Korea produces 24 percent and Japan 15 percent of its shipyards, while European shipbuilding activity has fallen sharply to 5 percent. The US represents only 0.2 percent of global tonnage, with China exceeding it by a factor of 200.

Europe's supremacy in the control of the world's territory alternated over the centuries among Spain, Portugal, Holland, and England, leading Europe in recent years to produce 24 percent of the ships. 

Another important fact emerged in Shenzhen: The technological level of China remains modest despite significant advances, while South Korea maintains its dominance in higher value-added production.