China Daily reports that although the Chinese shipbuilding industry is still troubled, cuts in overcapacity and upgrades have been positive. The industry received in 2013 new orders with dead weight tons of 70 million, up 242 per cent year on year, according to a report posted by China’s Information and Technology Ministry. About 80 per cent of these new orders were secured by the biggest yards, up 5.5 percent on last year.

The industry had attracted orders for sophisticated ships including six LNG carriers and four VLGCs. Recent deliveries include China's first 10,000 TEU container ship with independent intellectual property rights from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry. This ship was built for China Shipping Container Lines and is capable of carrying 10,036 TEUs and meets the 2025 Energy Efficiency Design Index standards for carbon emissions to be implemented in 2025. The delivery marks a new leap in China's shipbuilding industry, as until now the manufacturing of 10,000 TEU container ships had been monopolized by big shipbuilders in Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea.

China's economy grew 7.7 per cent year on year in 2013, the same as 2012 and beating the government's target of 7.5 per cent, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Despite the positive developments, Zhang Guangqin, president of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, is reported to say that it will take at least another five years for overcapacity to be eased.