Innovation urged in shipping industry

After surpassing South Korea to become the world's largest shipbuilder by the volume of deadweight tonnage completed, China has no time to relish the achievement. Top on the agenda of the nation's shipbuilding industry is strengthening technological innovation and design capability, industry analysts said.

The latest figures from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry show that in the first half of this year, China produced 41.1 percent of world's ships, while its orders received accounted for 46.2 percent of the global market.

While the global financial meltdown dealt a great blow to other shipbuilding nations, leaving them downsized or shut down, Chinese shipbuilders made impressive progress on the back of robust cash flow and increasing demand for low-price ships.

China's yards delivered 22.7 million deadweight tons in the first six months this year, while South Korea delivered 18.3 million deadweight tons, according to Clarksons, a leading shipping services provider.

However, unlike traditional outstanding shipbuilders in Japan and South Korea, which solidified their positions by technological innovation, China took a shortcut in this industry via intense investment.

"Although China has become the world's largest shipbuilder, it is still not a powerful ship manufacturer," said Zhang Shengkun, president of Shanghai Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, which was established in 1951.

According to Zhang, design is the lifeline of manufacturing.

"It is understandable to copy others' design at the very beginning of industrial development, but imitation cannot last long when you compete with other powerful shipbuilding nations," said Zhang, who is also a professor specialized in shipbuilding at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.