In Numbers: China's three major shipbuilding indicators rank 1st globally in Q1

China's shipbuilding industry maintained its global lead across all major indicators in the first quarter of 2026, with shipbuilding completion volume reaching 15.68 million deadweight tons (DWT), up 46 percent year-on-year.

During the same period, China's new shipbuilding orders surged 195.2 percent year-on-year to 59.53 million DWT, while its order backlog increased 43.6 percent to 322.3 million DWT as of the end of March.

From January to March, China accounted for 57.3 percent of global shipbuilding completions, 84.9 percent of new orders, and 69.8 percent of the global order backlog.