China remains the world's top shipbuilder in 2025

The country's shipbuilding output reaches 53.69 million deadweight tonnes, accounting for 56 percent of global output.

By
Workers building a vessel at a shipyard in Yizheng, Jiangsu province, China on August 25 2025. / Anadolu Agency

China remained the world’s leading shipbuilder in 2025 in terms of total output and its share of new and pending orders, according to official data released on Monday.

The country’s shipbuilding output reached 53.69 million deadweight tonnes (DWT) last year, an 11.4 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China’s manufacturing accounted for 56 percent of global output, according to the data.

Pending orders amounted to 274.42 million DWT to represent 66.8 percent of global output. New orders totalled 107.82 million DWT, accounting for 69 percent of the global market share.

China has been the leader in global shipbuilding for 16 years.