Nation unveils largest shipbuilder

▶ Conglomerate to prioritize military production

China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) was set up in Beijing on Tuesday, becoming the world’s largest shipmaker. The company has designated China’s naval armament, including aircraft carriers and nuclear-powered submarines, as a priority, media reports said.

CSSC regards military research and production as its responsibility and a priority, and will take up the task of producing all of China’s naval battle ships, thepaper.cn reported.

“CSSC should enhance planning and coordination work, and make sure the merger and battle ship production do not influence each other but promote each other,” Hao Peng, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), said at the company’s unveiling ceremony in Beijing on Tuesday, CSSC’s website said.

The company has 147 scientific research institutes, enterprises and listed companies, with total assets of 790 billion yuan ($112.41 billion) and 310,000 employees, according to its website.

The move comes after a longanticipated merger between two Chinese state-owned ship-building enterprises (SOEs) – China Shipbuilding Industry Co and China State Shipbuilding Corp. The merger was part of a move to deepen supply-side structural reform of SOEs.

In recent years, China has carried out frequent mergers and acquisitions to streamline SOEs. The country has been working on mixedownership reform to build larger, stronger enterprises.

Industry experts said that the merged company can further magnify its advantage in ship production and integrate resources.

The mature experience established through manufacturing naval armament can help improve CSSC’s production techniques, and the market resources of shipbuilding can be better integrated, industry expert Wu Minghua told the Global Times.

“Now that the company can build more types of ships, its ability to win shipbuilding orders will improve. In addition, within a reasonable price range, it will have better pricing power and a say in the international shipbuilding industry,” Wu said.

The company will work hard to improve the design and building of large cruise ships, liquefied natural gas carriers, and ultra-large container ships, enabling China to become a strong, global shipbuilder, thepaper. cn said.

According to the Review of Maritime Transport 2019 published in October by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, China accounted for 40 percent of world newbuilding production, with Japan and South Korea accounting for 25 percent each.

Wu noted that CSSC may explore the international market as a next step because of high demand for China’s warships, especially from countries in Southeast Asia.

In addition, he said that CSSC should apply advanced technologies in shipbuilding, such as unmanned submarines and artificial intelligence, to lead the world shipbuilding industry.