Dalian charts green route to becoming shipbuilding leader(6)

Modernization drive

In recent years, Dalian has promoted the modernization of the city's growth through coordinated development of shipbuilding and marine equipment.

In 2024, the value of ship exports from Dalian Port reached 18.79 billion yuan, an increase of 28.3 percent year-on-year, Dalian Customs data shows.

"Dalian was born by the sea and thrives because of the sea. The shipbuilding and marine equipment industry has grown together with the city," said Xiong Maoping, Party chief of Dalian.

The city has formed a complete industrial system integrating shipbuilding with repairs, support, technical research and testing, he said.

Construction of a world-class high-tech shipbuilding and high-end marine equipment manufacturing base can also be leveraged to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and to cultivate and development of strategic emerging industries, Xiong said.

Dalian will actively adapt to the trend of green development in the shipbuilding industry, layout large-scale ocean ships and deep-sea equipment industrial chains according to local conditions, and enhance the design and construction capabilities of high-value-added ship types and equipment, he said.

In 2024, Dalian's shipbuilding and marine equipment industry achieved an annual output value exceeding 60 billion yuan for the first time, said Qiu Baolin, deputy mayor of the city.

Breakthroughs were made in the research and development of new ships such as new high-speed passenger and roll-on-roll-off ships, he added.

A number of firsts, both domestically and internationally, were achieved. The world's first LNG dual-fuel ultra-large crude oil ship and methanol dual-fuel low-speed diesel engine were both successfully delivered.

At the beginning of this year, the city's three-year action plan for the shipbuilding and marine industry was formulated. A total of 18 policies were proposed, with four regions to promote specific support measures to boost the industry's development.

The Supporting Policies for the High-Quality Development of Dalian's Shipbuilding and Marine Equipment Industry was released at the February conference.

"In 2025, Dalian is expected to deliver 84 ships, with shipbuilding completions reaching 8.8 million deadweight tons, and the output value is expected to grow by over 20 percent," said Qiu.

"By 2030, we aim to build Dalian into an international first-class shipbuilding and marine equipment industry base," he said.