Ship orders demonstrate China's manufacturing strength

Some time ago, a 24,116TEU ultra-large container ship with a total length of 399.99 meters and a deck area equivalent to nearly four standard football fields was undocked at Shanghai Changxing Shipbuilding Base. This is by far the world's largest container ship, which fully reflects my country's shipbuilding strength. At the Changxing Shipbuilding Base, the production scene where giant ships are lined up in an orderly manner and multiple ships are built at the same time is a vivid epitome of the vigorous development of my country's shipbuilding industry.

About 95% of my country's foreign trade goods are transported by sea, and strong shipbuilding capabilities are of great significance to the development of foreign trade. Last year, my country's shipping companies received orders and delivered continuously, showing a good momentum of development. As of November 2022, the number of new orders received and the amount of completed projects accounted for 53.1% and 45.5% of the world's share respectively, continuing to rank first in the world. It is not easy to achieve such an achievement. Chinese shipping companies must take various measures to overcome the impact of the new crown epidemic. Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. established a model of "cloud negotiation, cloud contract signing, and cloud delivery" to significantly improve production efficiency; Jiangnan Shipbuilding re-arranged the construction project plan, evaluated risky projects and formulated countermeasures. Relevant companies have focused on epidemic prevention with one hand and production with the other, and have continuously solved the problem of blockages in the supply chain of the industrial chain and the supply chain. They have withstood "stress tests" time after time and enhanced the world's confidence in China's shipbuilding industry.

The shipbuilding industry is known as "the crown of comprehensive industries", which demonstrates the comprehensive industrial strength of a country. Taking my country's first large cruise ship as an example, the whole ship requires 136 systems, 25 million parts, and 4,200 kilometers of cables, which is a complex project. In the past, the technical strength of my country's shipbuilding industry was weak, and there were many gaps in high-tech and special-purpose ship types. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country's shipbuilding industry has continuously improved its innovation capabilities, accelerated its transformation and upgrading, and achieved multiple breakthroughs in the fields of ultra-large container ships, large liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, high-end offshore engineering equipment, and core supporting equipment for ships. More importantly, my country's shipbuilding industry has formed an efficient, collaborative, open and inclusive innovation system, and its innovation capabilities have been continuously enhanced.

At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and accelerated industrial transformation have brought opportunities and challenges to the high-end equipment manufacturing industry. my country has the world's most complete ship product lineage and assembly system, the largest ship production and construction capacity, and has advantages in scientific research and manpower. However, it must keep up with the pace of technological iteration and make new achievements in high-level technological self-reliance and self-improvement. Great work. The 24116TEU ultra-large container ship is valuable not only in breaking through the difficulty of construction, but also in having completely independent intellectual property rights and innovations. For example, the bubble drag reduction system was adopted for the first time, which can reduce carbon emissions by more than 6,000 tons throughout the year; the shaft generator system was adopted for the first time, which can effectively reduce fuel consumption. In the new round of international competition, my country's shipbuilding industry must not only actively seize market share, but also take the initiative to transform and upgrade, and gradually increase the proportion of high-tech and high value-added ships in orders.

Building large docks, building large ships, and allowing Chinese-made ships to navigate the world's oceans are the goals that generations of Chinese shipbuilders have striven for. Nowadays, from the Bohai Bay, the Yangtze River Estuary to the Pearl River Estuary, my country has formed a series of shipbuilding bases; Chinese ships are heading for farther and deeper oceans. By continuously improving our independent innovation capabilities and improving the competitiveness of the entire industry chain in the shipbuilding field, we will surely be able to accelerate the establishment of a world shipbuilding power and make greater contributions to the construction of a maritime power.