A shipbuilding yard in Nantong. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The latest statistics from the Nantong maritime safety bureau show that in 2024, the total output value of the city's shipbuilding and marine engineering industries exceeded 200 billion yuan ($27.28 billion), setting a new historical record.

Last year, 119 newly built ships and marine engineering products smoothly sailed out of the Nantong area, an increase of 32 percent compared to the previous year.

As an important base for China's shipbuilding and marine engineering industries, Nantong has recently successfully promoted the industries' transformation towards high-end, intelligent, and green directions through a series of innovative measures.

Last year, the total tonnage of various types of ships and marine engineering products in the city approached 4 million metric tons. Significantly, high-tech, high-value-added, and specialized ship and marine engineering products constituted approximately 50 percent of this total. Among these products are the world's largest 24,000 TEU container ship, the world's largest FPSO unit, and the country's first large-scale FLNG unit.

The shipbuilding and marine engineering sectors in Nantong account for 10 percent and one-fourth of the national scale, respectively, with high-tech ships and marine equipment recognized as part of the advanced manufacturing industry clusters in the country. Key shipbuilding enterprises in Nantong currently have orders scheduled through the end of 2026, with production activities being full swing.