BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) - China's shipbuilding sector posted strong growth across its three major indicators in the first quarter of 2026, maintaining a leading share of the global market, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed on Saturday.

The 63,200-ton bulk carrier "DARYA NITYA" is moved and outfitted with the help of tugs in Taicang Port Economic and Technological Development Zone, East China's Suzhou, on March 1, 2024. It is expected that in 2024, China's shipbuilding completion will be about 45 million deadweight tons. (Photo: VCG)

From January to March, the country's shipbuilding output reached 15.68 million deadweight tonnes (DWT), up 46 percent year on year and accounting for 57.3 percent of the global total, the data showed.

New orders totaled 59.53 million DWT during the period, surging 195.2 percent from a year earlier and representing 84.9 percent of the global market share.

As of the end of March, the sector's holding orders stood at 322.3 million DWT, up 43.6 percent year on year. This volume accounted for 69.8 percent of the global total.