Marine engineering equipment and high-tech ships: big country shipbuilding is not afraid of rough seas

In 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments jointly issued the Action Plan for Deepening Structural Adjustment and Accelerating Transformation and Upgrading of the Shipbuilding Industry (2016-2020), in response to the continued downturn in the demand of the international mainstream ship market at that time, the sharp contraction of the market for high-tech ships and Marine engineering equipment, and the overall plight of the world shipbuilding industry. China's shipbuilding industry is facing the most severe challenge since the financial crisis, and at the same time to meet the historic opportunity of overtaking on the curve.

The plan proposes that by 2020, China should build a shipbuilding industry system with strong scale, strong innovation capacity, good quality and efficiency, and optimized structure, and strive to enter the ranks of the world's shipbuilding power and advanced countries in Marine engineering equipment manufacturing. The shipbuilding completed by the top 10 shipbuilding enterprises accounted for more than 70% of the country's total, forming a group of world-class advanced shipbuilding and Marine engineering equipment manufacturing enterprises with strong core competitiveness. The supporting capacity has been significantly enhanced. The average loading rate of the three major ship types, bulk carriers, oil tankers and container ships, high-tech ships and localized offshore engineering equipment have reached 80%, 60% and 40% respectively, making China a major Marine equipment manufacturer in the world. Backbone ships, offshore equipment and supporting enterprises have basically established a global research and development, marketing and service system.

In November 2017, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission and other eight departments issued the "Action Plan for the Sustainable and Healthy Development of Marine Engineering Equipment Manufacturing Industry (2017-2020)", actively responding to the continued downturn in the demand for Marine engineering equipment market at that time, the global Marine engineering equipment manufacturing industry suffered a severe impact, and new orders shrank significantly. The severe situation of large-scale delay or withdrawal of products already built and under construction. The plan to promote the supply-side structural reform as the main line, with innovation as the driving force, accelerate structural adjustment, inventory reduction, shortcomings, brand creation, constantly optimize the industrial development model, cultivate new economic growth points, enhance international competitiveness, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of China's Marine engineering equipment manufacturing industry.

In December 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Implementation Plan for the Industrialization of Key Technologies for High-end Ships and Marine Engineering Equipment, aiming to promote the transformation and upgrading of China's shipbuilding industry, improve the technical level and core competitiveness, and consolidate and enhance international competitive advantages. The "Implementation Plan" proposes that the independent design, system integration and general contracting capabilities of China's high-tech ships and special ships will be further improved, a number of ships and Marine engineering equipment products will fill the domestic gaps, the structure of Marine resources development equipment will be significantly upgraded, the loading rate of key supporting equipment will continue to increase, research and development design, testing and testing facilities will be more perfect, and the core competitiveness of the industry will be significantly enhanced. Major progress has been made in the design and construction of large cruise ships, with the delivery of the first 22,000 container ships, the promotion and application of public law enforcement ships, krill fishing vessels, and far-reaching offshore fisheries and aquaculture platforms. The industrial capabilities of high-strength mooring chains, high-power lasers, and subsea pipeline inspection systems have been significantly enhanced, and virtual reality design and testing platforms have been put into use.

In December 2018, China's shipbuilding industry is still in the initial stage of digital manufacturing, there are many problems that need to be solved, such as serious shortage of three-dimensional digital process design capability, key process links are still dominated by mechanization and semi-automated equipment, and the ship market continues to be depressed, labor costs are rising rapidly, and it is difficult to recruit workers for bitter, dirty and dangerous operations. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of National Defense Science and Industry issued the Action Plan for Promoting the Intelligent Transformation of Ship Assembly and Construction (2019-2021).