Page 53: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2003)

China

China: Growing Influence in All Matters Maritime

Rickmers Hamburg is an innovative Multipurpose Container Carrier. Built at Xiamen Shipyard, this was the first of a series of nine of the Superflex Heavy MPC type (the series to be built by three

Chinese shipyards), and is a shining example of the direction of Chinese Shipyards.

China's importance in the world mar- itime market has accelerated rapidly over the past decade, but it appears that current and near future growth will prove even more prolific.

Chinese shipyards for 10 years have continued to dent the market share num- bers of major shipbuilders in Japan.

Korea and Europe, and it appears that the shipyards will continue to scoop up ship repair and new ship construction business. It emerged this year as the third largest shipbuilding country in the world, with about seven percent of worldwide business as measured by compensated gross tonnage (cgt).

According to a recent report from

Drewry Shipping Consultants. China's shipbuilding capacity is set to increase threefold, to 3.5 million cgt. by 2005/2006.

As is the case with China in many other respects, the sheer magnitude of the market is staggering. The Drewry

Report found more than 1,200 ship- yards, building everything from river boats to ULCCs. But the report, dubbed "Chinese Shipyards." focuses on the 70 shipyards that handle much of the coun- try's oceangoing international business.

While its shipyards continue to grow rapidly, so does the country's shipown- ing side. China shipowners currently (as of July 1. 2003) rank number five in the world in terms of Tonnage Owned (1.000 gt and greater), with 2078 ships totaling 44.915.000 gt. according to sta- tistics from the U.S. Maritime

Administration. (See chart p. 99)

The biennial Marintec China is the largest and arguably the most important maritime trade exhibition in China.

Since its inception in 1981. Marintec

China has developed into an important forum at which senior executives from across the global maritime industry gather. Scheduled from December 2-5. 2003 at the new Shanghai New

International Expo Centre (SNIEC) in the Pudong district.

Marintec China 2003 will be the largest event ever in all its 22 years his- tory. with an exhibition spanning more than 17.000 sq. m., a 30% increase from the last event in 2001.

The exhibition is organized by

CMP/Seatrade and the Shanghai Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers (SSNAME).

This year's event will feature exhibitors from 28 countries and regions. To date, more than 100 Chinese companies from 16 provinces and cities have confirmed to exhibit, including

Jiangnan Shipyard (Group), Hudong-

Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) and

Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, just to name a few.

China's flourishing economic and export businesses have prompted the demands for better maritime services in all dimensions.

Shipbuilding giant Germany, one of the world's largest exporter of high-tech marine equipment, has confirmed 57 companies in its national pavilion, the largest ever. As in the past, Germany will present the largest national group to demonstrate their technical know-how to the maritime community in China.

Once again Port China will be incor- porated into Marintec China 2003. The port industry in China has developed in an unprecedented pace in past few years in tandem with the escalating traffic generated by trading activities both within the country and with other parts of the world. In 2002, Shanghai port, the busiest port in China, has become the world's third largest container port for the first time. The port's momentum runs through into 2003 and its container throughput for the first half of this year exceeded 5,200,000 TEUs, representing a 35.6% increase on the same period of 2002. Shanghai port will well overtake

Pusan to become the third busiest port in the world this year. The remarkable per- formance of Shanghai port is just the manifestation of the robust increase of the cargo throughputs of the various ports of China that saw the throughput of seven of its ports exceeding 100 mil- lion tons. Port China will feature various port services and products that help enhance operation efficiency.

Chinese Growth:

Is it too fast, too soon?

Staggering trade and industrial output figures from booming China are for the first time hinting at excessive rates of growth that could threaten the country's future economic stability. Industrial out- put increased by 17.1 percent in August, figures show, up from 16.5 percent in

July and 16.9 percent in June.

Meanwhile, despite the effects of the

SARS virus, China's economy - now

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