China's new ship orders skyrocket in Jan-Feb

China's new ship orders increased by a factor of 7.7 to 5.72 million dead weight tons in the first two months of this year, accounting for 51.9% of the world's total, according to a statement published on the website of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
In the period from January to February, the country's completed shipbuilding output surged 168% year on year to 9.18 million DWT, accounting for 46.1% of the world's total.
Currently, China's total shipbuilding orders amounted to 186.95 million DWT at the end of February, 0.6% less than at the end of 2009. The total existing orders, 88% of which are for exports, makes up 37.6% of the world's total.
In 2009, the gross output of China's shipbuilding industry was RMB 548.4 billion in 2009, up 28.7% year on year, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.