The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry and Information announced on 5 September a list of 12 state-designated shipbuilding export centres in China. Five Yangtze cities are among them: Shanghai (Chongming), Nantong, Taizhou, Wuhan and Chongqing (Fuling).

Deputy Minister of Commerce Jiang Yaoping said that a raft of measures will be introduced to encourage reforms and facilitate innovation so that within the next five years, China’s shipbuilding industry will become even more competitive in the world market.