Dalian charts green route to becoming shipbuilding leader

Green, intelligent drive

With over 78.5 percent of global green product orders and full coverage of mainstream ship types, the achievements of China's shipbuilding industry in the move to green and low-carbon production were outstanding in 2024.

China's shipbuilding industry is advancing toward mid- and high-end manufacturing through accelerated technological innovation, with new quality productive forces the engine driving the upgrade, said Professor Zhang Hongpeng from the Dalian Maritime University.

"China's shipbuilding industry is focusing on major areas of green and intelligent development, clearing a series of key bottlenecks, and promoting the leapfrog development of design and manufacturing capabilities for green and intelligent ship and marine equipment," he said.

In December 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and several other departments issued an action plan for green development of the shipbuilding industry (2024-2030).The plan proposed establishing a basic system for green development in the shipbuilding industry by 2030.

In December 2024, a State-level opinion on accelerating the construction of a unified and open transportation market was issued. It proposed promoting the application of new energy and clean energy in ships and other transportation, and the continued implementation of intelligent shipping and other related pilot applications in the transportation field.

Zhang said more designs and equipment are now being independently developed. "Products are gradually covering all ship types in the market, and the research and development design, processing technology, and management levels are continuously improving," he said.