The Deputy General Manager of China CSSC Holding said last week that the company achieved an economic output value of US$9.84 billion in the first half of 2009. Qian Jianping said that this was an increase of 16.8 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, operating revenues increased by 11.7 percent to reach US$7.87 billion and profits increased 20.8 percent to surpass US$490 million.
"We received orders in 2008 for ships to be delivered in 2012," Mr Qian told the People's Daily Online. "The output value for this year will be related to orders previously signed. Pressure will build over time."
Statistics from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) showed that the shipbuilding industry maintained growth in the first half of 2009, however, the growth rate had slowed significantly.
In the first five months of 2009, the total tonnage of ships built in China reached 12.16 million DWT while export delivery increased 25 percent year-on-year to US$14.17 million. Its growth rate however, dropped 38.9 percentage points compared with the prior year.
Furthermore, shipyards in China experienced a drop in the number of orders for eight consecutive months and the number of new orders is now down 98 percent year-on-year. Added to this is the number of cancellations. Incomplete CANSI statistics showed that 152 units were cancelled in 2009.