In the first half of this year, shipbuilders based in Jingjiang, county-level city in Jiangsu Province of China led the nation's industry with the record-high construction indicators. Their completion volume grew by 44.4 percent on an annual basis, new orders by a significant 384.9 percent year-on-year, and orderbook by 67 percent from a year earlier, according to authoritative data.

The shipbuilding industry is Jingjiang's pillar sector with China's three shipbuilding leaders there. New Times Shipbuilding, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, and Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering completed the construction of 49 vessels in the first six months whose capacity totals 5.329 million deadweight tons, close to the volume throughout last year. In terms of new orders, they received an aggregate of 61 ships whose capacity hits 8.894 million, which occupies 39.2 percent of the nationwide volume. Besides, the total orderbook stood at 174 units with a combined 19.535 million deadweight tons, an increase of 67 percent from a year ago.

According to statistical data released by Clarksons, the first two private yards ranked among the top 20 builders worldwide in terms of new orders and orderbook in the first semester.

At present, Jingjiang's shipbuilders are marching into high value-added sectors, such as chemical tankers and LNG carriers, amid financing difficulties and low profitability in the industry.