China’s ministry of industry and information technology has announced the first batch of a ‘white list’ of Chinese shipyards, which are supposedly regarded as reputable shipbuilders.

A total of 51 shipyards have been ‘white listed’, the ministry announced, coming from various provinces and including both state-owned and private enterprises.

Among them, 10 subsidiary yards of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) and five subsidiaries of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) made it to the list.

Some better known names under CSSC include Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Guangzhou Shipyard International, Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, and Shanghai Shipyard.

Those under CSIC include Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, and Bohai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry.

China Cosco Group saw four of its yards made it to the list while China Shipping Group and Sinotrans & CSC Group contributed one yard and two yards, respectively.

Jiangsu province, one of China’s leading shipbuilding province, boasts 13 listed privately-owned shipyards, the largest number among the various provinces. Some of the Jiangsu yards include New Yangzi Shipbuilding, New Century Shipbuilding, Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries, Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding, Hantong Ship Heavy Industry, Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry, Sainty Marine, and Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering.

Zhejiang province saw seven of its yards listed, including Jinhai Heavy Industry, Yangfan Group, and Zengzhou Shipbuilding.

The list also included four yards from Shandong province, two each from Fujian province and Jiangxi province, and one from Liaoning province.

There are approximately 87 leading yards in China and more yards are expected to be added to the ‘white list’, though the final figure is yet to be determined.

China’s shipbuilding industry is undergoing a consolidation phase to remove surplus capacity as the market suffers from a downturn. The recession has led to a widespread shut down of bottom-rung and speculative yards, bringing the total number of active yards to around 700 today from more than 3,000 at the start of 2010.