As the core base of China’s shipbuilding industry, Shanghai plans to build Changxing Island into a world-class modern shipbuilding base to give full play to Shanghai’s strong foundation in the shipbuilding and marine engineering equipment industry and the advantages of high-quality enterprise concentration.
On July 16, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government officially issued the “Implementation Plan for the Construction of a World-Class Modern Shipbuilding Base in Changxing Island, Shanghai (2025-2027)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”), proposing five key tasks: developing world-class high-end equipment, breaking through world-class core technologies, building a world-class resilient industrial chain, building a world-class flagship factory, and cultivating a world-class innovation ecosystem.
By 2027, the scale of the shipbuilding and marine engineering equipment industry on Changxing Island will exceed 120 billion yuan (approximately US$16.7 billion), with high-tech ship types such as liquefied gas carriers (hereinafter referred to as “LNG carriers”) and dual-fuel container ships accounting for 80% of the total. The goal is to establish a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster for the shipbuilding and marine engineering equipment industry, establish two or more national-level key laboratories, one or more national-level pilot production platforms, and attract or cultivate 100 key supporting enterprises along the industrial chain.
In terms of developing world-class high-end equipment, the Plan sets out requirements for LNG carriers, large cruise ships, offshore engineering equipment, special-purpose vessels, future vessels, and port equipment:
- LNG carriers: With the annual production capacity of 18 ultra-large LNG carriers, the construction efficiency has reached the world’s first-class level, and the development and loading application of cryogenic liquid cargo containment, transportation, monitoring and control systems have been promoted. The independent supporting level of small and medium-sized LNG carriers to reach more than 90%, and the supporting level of ultra-large LNG carriers to reach more than 80%. The design and construction of super-large LNG carriers to be completed. The full spectrum of ship types such as ethane carriers, liquid ammonia carriers, and liquefied petroleum gas carriers to be formed.
- Large cruise ships: Build digital, green and intelligent large cruise ship assembly and construction bases, accelerate the design of large cruise ships, attract and cultivate a group of integrated power, turbine machinery and other core system supporting enterprises to gather in the cruise ship supporting industrial park, and form the ability to build international mainstream large cruise ships.
- Offshore engineering equipment: Enhance the design and construction capabilities of offshore oil and gas resource development equipment such as floating production, storage, and offloading units (FPSO) and floating storage and regasification units. Develop a full range of deep-sea mining equipment, focusing on key equipment such as mining ships and deep-sea mining vehicles, as well as core systems such as mineral transportation, deployment, and recovery systems, and promote sea trials and verification of deep-sea equipment.
- Special vessels: Strengthen the comprehensive research and development capabilities of various types of special vessels such as icebreakers, car carriers, and maintenance vessels, break through key technologies such as sea ice modeling and ice load forecasting, ro-ro system joint debugging, and remote support, and support core system matching such as high-power propulsion and high-precision polar navigation. Promote the transition of icebreakers from medium ice class to high ice class and from medium to heavy, improve the adaptability of car carriers to new energy vehicles, and enhance the multi-functional integrated application capabilities of maintenance vessels.
- Future vessels: Promote the research and development of marine nuclear power systems and accelerate the formation of marine nuclear power equipment manufacturing capabilities. Advance research into cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent navigation and autonomous decision-making for ocean-going vessels, construct intelligent vessel simulation training facilities, and conduct “ship-shore-cloud” collaborative autonomous navigation tests.
- Port Equipment: Develop high-efficiency shore cranes, green tire-type electric cranes, and port-specific unmanned transport equipment, and achieve local supply of core components and automation subsystems. Break through key technologies for intelligent port operation control, develop intelligent production scheduling and resource management systems, and develop port equipment systems with an automation rate of over 95% to achieve the largest share of the international port equipment market.
In terms of building a world-class flagship factory, the Plan proposes:
- Build digital smart factories: Develop large models for ship design, promote the research and application of full three-dimensional digital smart design platforms for vessels, and digital twin systems for complex systems. Break through key technologies such as smart hulls and smart engine rooms, improve key processes such as smart cutting and smart welding, develop and apply efficient smart equipment for construction, build high-efficiency smart workshops and smart stacking and warehousing logistics systems, promote data integration of digital systems such as product lifecycle management and production execution, establish a production and operation management system, and create a benchmark for smart factories for ships, offshore equipment, and port equipment.
- Strengthen the application of green technologies: Support green transformation of shipyards and upgrading of green equipment. Promote collaborative management and control in ship design and manufacturing, and enhance lightweight design, large-scale module design, zero-margin production technology, and application of new materials. Establish collaborative management and control of shipyard supply chains and carbon footprint management and control. Promote the application of green hydrogen consumption technologies, drive technological innovations in ship repair processes such as new-type environmental-friendly water mist sandblasting derusting and ultra-high pressure water derusting. Support enterprises in accelerating the upgrading and transformation of facilities for volatile organic compounds (VOC) treatment facilities.
- Improve repair and conversion capabilities: Expand the repair, conversion and inspection of high-tech vessels such as large LNG carriers, large cruise ships, car carriers, and high-end offshore equipment such as FPSO and floating oil storage regasification units. Build a new energy ship conversion and equipment test platform, strengthen the conversion capabilities of core systems such as dual-fuel power, desulfurization and denitrification, build a flagship factory for the repair and conversion of green and intelligent ships and offshore equipment, and provide value-added services such as inspection and maintenance, and system upgrades.
In terms of breaking through world-class core technologies, the Plan proposes:
- Strengthen technological breakthroughs: Conduct research on underlying technologies such as fluid simulation and mechanical analysis, overcome key technologies such as low-temperature liquid cargo containment, electric propulsion, and electromagnetic control, and develop advanced technologies such as intelligent navigation, polar scientific research, and deep-sea operations. Promote the development of core supporting systems such as low-carbon fuel propulsion systems and low-temperature liquid cargo systems, and accelerate the application of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and industrial internet in the design and construction of marine engineering equipment. Conduct integrated and systematic scientific research and development around intelligent manufacturing and intelligent ships, deep-sea equipment, and resource development. Develop key technologies and systems such as intelligent operating systems for port equipment and domestically produced domain controllers for heavy-duty automated guided vehicles.
- Deepening collaborative innovation: Support leading enterprises in forming innovation consortia to conduct collaborative research and development, including specialized software for ship computer-aided design and ship structural analysis, as well as key materials such as ship-specific special metals and thermal insulation materials. Promote the practical application of key systems and equipment such as integrated power systems and energy-saving and emission-reduction devices on actual ships, and support the construction of deep-sea, all-weather floating research facilities. Enhance integration and conversion capabilities to develop specialized vessels such as maintenance ships, observation ships, and icebreakers, as well as underwater operation equipment and other marine engineering equipment tailored to specific operational scenarios, ensuring the realization of functional requirements and production capacity supply for such scenarios.
- Promote pilot-scale verification: Complete the onshore LNG cryogenic engineering test center, and accelerate the pilot-scale verification of LNG cryogenic liquid cargo system equipment. Build laboratories and pilot-scale bases for magnetic control, fluid analysis, etc., and carry out pilot-scale verification of key equipment such as podded propellers, fin stabilizers, and electromagnetic equipment. Advance the construction of innovation platforms, strengthen the simulation and experimental verification of marine operation equipment, the pilot-scale verification of intelligent shipbuilding and unmanned assembly production lines, and deepen the research on green power and far-sea support. Build a digital manufacturing simulation pilot-scale platform for intelligent shipbuilding, and form professional pilot-scale service capabilities such as process technology research and development, application verification, and equipment testing, evaluation, and adaptation verification.
In terms of building a world-class resilient industrial chain, the Plan clearly states:
- Enhancing the supporting capabilities of the industrial chain: Strengthening the leading role of high-tech ships and offshore engineering equipment in overall assembly, focusing on general systems such as propulsion systems, deck machinery, and outfitting equipment, and consolidating and enhancing the supporting supply capabilities for general equipment such as large structural components, marine electrical equipment, and special pumps and valves; Focus on specialized supporting systems for high-tech vessels, such as the low-temperature liquid cargo systems for large LNG carriers, icebreaking systems for polar ships, and autonomous decision-making systems for intelligent ships. Accelerate collaborative research and development and industrialization of core supporting technologies such as low-temperature insulation modules and liquid cargo monitoring and control equipment, and achieve the clustering of core supporting industries for high-tech ships.
- Promote the development of industrial chain agglomeration: enhance the development level of Changxing Island Marine Equipment Industrial Park, build large LNG carriers and large cruise ships supporting industrial parks, improve the digitalization level of the park, and promote the development and utilization of clean energy and energy-saving technology transformation in the park. Optimize the business environment, carry out collaborative investment promotion for enterprises, parks, investment institutions, etc., promote innovative cooperation between domestic and foreign capital, and attract the aggregation of upstream and downstream enterprises in the shipbuilding and offshore industry chain.
In addition, the Plan also clearly states the need to promote the empowerment of industrial services, strengthen regional industrial chain linkage, reinforce industrial factor supply, strengthen industrial talent protection, promote deep integration between industry and cities, and promote international exchange and cooperation.
Currently, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., one of Shanghai’s major shipbuilding companies, officially relocated to its new factory in Changxing Island on May 19, 2025, and officially commenced operations.