China's shipbuilding orders account for 40 pct of global total

China's shipbuilding industry received 98.45 million deadweight tons (DWTs) in new orders, accounting for 42 percent of the global total, said Zhang Guangqin, chairman of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) on the Nantong Shipbuilding Industry Development Forum.

He said China completed its 18.93 million DWTs in 2007, accounting for 23 percent of the global total.

Experts estimate that China's total shipbuilding output will reach 24 million tons by 2015, or 35 percent of the global total, making China the No.1 shipbuilding country in the world.