New Chinese Shipyard to Boost Warship Production

The construction of China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC)’s new shipyard on the Changxing Island, Shanghai, is set to open in 2023.

The construction of the dock basin of the second phase of the Changxing Shipbuilding Base Project started on Wednesday with a commencement ceremony, CSSC Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding announced on its WeChat account.

Funded by and built for Hudong-Zhonghua, construction of the new shipyard started in January. Work has progressed smoothly with advanced technologies and optimal procedures, according to the statement. Construction of the dockyards started in September, and the high-pressure jet grouting pile is 40% complete. The steel columns are in place at the cutting and processing factory at the joint workshop for hull construction.

When the project started in January, the company announced that the first stage of the shipyard construction, which covers an area of about 2.15 square kilometers out of the 4.32 square kilometers in the entire construction plan, is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. This includes a research and development building, a joint hull workshop, a curved section assembly workshop, a module center for outfitting, a painting workshop, an indoor dockyard, an outdoor dockyard, a dock basin and a dock for outfitting, enabling the production of six specialized ships a year.

The third Type 075 amphibious assault ship for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was launched this January at Hudong-Zhonghua's current shipyard, following the launch of the previous two in September 2019 and April 2020. The company is also responsible for the building of made-for-export warships, including the Type 054A/P frigate for Pakistan and likely also the Type 071E amphibious landing ship for Thailand, according to Chinese media reports.

The PLA Navy is the world’s largest, and is expected to be even after ten years. A U.S. DoD 2020 annual report to Congress on Chinese military power released in September had stated: “The People's Republic of China has the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines including over 130 major surface combatants. In comparison, the U.S. Navy’s battle force is approximately 293 ships as of early 2020.”

The Pentagon predicts China could still numerically be the world’s largest after ten years with over 420 warships while the U.S. fleet could grow to 355.