China may have retained its position at the top of the world shipbuilding league but like shipbuilding nations around the globe, a lack of new orders is continuing to affect Chinese yards, including the state-owned giants. There is no disputing the fact that Chinese shipbuilding has made tremendous strides through the first two decades of this century. During that time its ability to build ever more sophisticated vessels has been shown time and again. However, its reputation has generally been made as a quantity rather than quality builder. In the heady days leading up to and just beyond the 2008 economic crash, Chinese shipbuilding expanded at a rate that was almost unprecedented. In that time, yards which had specialised in repair work were converted to shipbuilding facilities while many new yards and builders were established.
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