China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), the northern Chinese state-run shipbuilding conglomerate, will launch a financial leasing unit next year.

“Having a ship financial leasing company will help us increase our share of global orders,” Sun Bo, president of state-owned CSIC, told delegates attending the Senior Maritime Forum at Marintec China on Tuesday.

“It will also allow us to build ship types that we have never built before, enabling us to enter new international markets,” he said.

China’s ship leasing firms have rapidly built up a dominant position in the world during the downturn, something covered by Splash columnist Dagfinn Lunde yesterday.

CSIC’s main rival, China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), launched its financial leasing unit in 2012.