Output value of China's shipbuiding industry rises in 1st 7 months, growth rate lower

China's shipbuilding enterprises realized a total output value of 300.6 billion yuan (44 billion U.S. dollars) in the first seven months of this year, Ministry of Industrial and Information Technology said on Thursday.  The figure increased by 33.7 percent over the same period last year, but the growth rate was 24.3 percentage points lower, the ministry said in a report on its Web site.  Large-scale shipbuilding enterprises, with an annual output value above 5 million yuan, posted a total export value of 140.3 billion yuan in the first seven months, up 21.3 percent year on year, but the growth rate declined 40.8 percentage points.
The shipbuilding industry is one of the key sectors that the government aimed to boost through an industrial stimulus plan introduced in February, but the world financial crisis has impeded the efforts.