Market Prospects for the Marine Equipment Supply Industry

　　1. During the 12th and 13th Five-Year Plans, the shipbuilding supporting industries will achieve leapfrog growth in their installation rates.

　　The rate of domestic equipment installation on ships is a key indicator of the level of development of a country’s shipbuilding support industry. Compared with developed countries, where the installation rate for domestically produced equipment often ranges from 80% to 90%, and in some cases even reaches 100%, China’s current rate remains quite low. Although the localization rate of shipbuilding supporting components in China reached 54% in 2009, the installation rates for domestically produced marine electronic and electrical equipment and marine automation systems were only 13.31% and 1.66%, respectively. This underscores the substantial growth potential still available in terms of production scale and market opportunities for Chinese manufacturers in the shipbuilding support sector. With the release of a series of documents and policies, including the Outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan and Made in China 2025, the installation rate of domestically produced ship equipment in China is expected to rise further, presenting significant development opportunities for the country’s shipbuilding support industry during the 13th Five-Year Plan period.

　　2. The offshore vessel market has delivered strong performance, with the shipbuilding market exhibiting structural growth.

　　Building a strong maritime nation is an inevitable requirement for China’s current economic development. At present, China’s economy has evolved into a highly ocean-dependent, export-oriented economy.

　　For many of the world’s major trading nations, China’s reliance on maritime trade is even greater; such massive volumes of seaborne commerce depend on robust maritime capabilities to ensure their security. These capabilities encompass a fleet of merchant vessels, offshore resource development, the safeguarding of sea lanes, as well as naval and maritime law-enforcement forces tasked with protecting the nation’s foreign-trade regime, property, and personnel. At present, China is simultaneously strengthening its naval forces by accelerating the development of frontline combat platforms and bolstering its maritime law-enforcement capacity. The State Council institutional-reform plan submitted to the National People’s Congress in March 2013 proposes reorganizing the State Oceanic Administration and consolidating four separate law-enforcement agencies—the State Marine Surveillance Bureau, the Fisheries Law Enforcement Corps, the Anti-Smuggling Bureau, and the Coast Guard—into a single, unified maritime law-enforcement force. This move will undoubtedly create significant opportunities for growth in ocean-strategy–related industries, particularly in the field of maritime law-enforcement equipment. In recent years, multiple government departments—including fisheries enforcement, marine surveillance, maritime affairs, border defense, and customs—have steadily accelerated the construction of relevant vessels; yet even this pace remains insufficient to meet the enforcement demands across China’s vast maritime territory of several million square kilometers. Compared with Japan, another East Asian country, China’s marine-surveillance fleet still lags far behind in terms of the number of enforcement vessels per unit area. Consequently, to achieve or approach the levels of official vessel deployment seen in advanced maritime nations, China will continue to require thousands of additional government-owned ships in the years ahead, necessitating the construction of more modern vessels. It is anticipated that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China’s market for government vessels will maintain a relatively rapid growth rate, thereby driving continuous expansion in demand for electrical and automation systems tailored for such vessels.

　　In addition, offshore engineering vessels have become a key focus of development, driving a substantial increase in demand for marine equipment and related ancillary products. With the vigorous expansion of oil and gas exploration and production, the continued robust performance of the drilling rig and floating production platform markets will help alleviate the issue of underutilization of offshore engineering vessels, thereby providing strong support to the offshore engineering vessel market. Furthermore, as offshore oil and gas development shifts toward deeper waters, older vessels that no longer meet operational requirements will be phased out at an accelerated pace. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the demand for replacement equipment arising from oilfield development projects is expected to continue rising.

　　3. China will continue to absorb the relocation of the global shipbuilding industry, and the long-term growth trend of the domestic shipbuilding sector remains unchanged.

　　From the perspective of the future competitive landscape of the global shipbuilding industry, China’s advantages in labor, raw materials, and coastline continue to persist, and the global shift of shipbuilding production toward China is set to continue. In recent years, in response to market changes, China’s shipbuilding sector has significantly accelerated its efforts to restructure and transform its development model. First, there has been a marked increase in the development, order intake, and delivery of high-end vessel types, with some achieving breakthroughs; second, large enterprises with strong technological capabilities have stepped up their expansion into offshore engineering equipment.

　　At present, the global shipbuilding market remains in a phase of slow recovery; however, as economic globalization and international trade continue to deepen, the upward trend in global ship demand—albeit amid fluctuations—is expected to strengthen over time. Moreover, driven by continuous technological innovation and growing awareness of energy conservation and environmental protection, newly built vessels are increasingly characterized by higher value-added and greater technological sophistication, with ongoing optimization of vessel types. Consequently, the long-term growth trend in demand for shipbuilding-related industries, particularly for marine equipment, is unlikely to change.