The first phase of the Jiangnan Changxing Shipbuilding Base has been finished and is already in operation on Changxing Island, Shanghai. Built by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), it has three production lines and four boatyards capable of holding 300,000-ton ships. Almost unparalleled in the world, it is the biggest shipbuilding project ever to be undertaken in China. Shanghai has the potential to be the world's largest shipbuilding base.

Dubbed "Project Hope", the Changxing Shipbuilding Base will accelerate the development of China's shipbuilding industry. It includes seven large boatyards and will have the capacity to manufacture 8-million-ton ships by 2015. This will help Shanghai to become the biggest shipbuilding location in the world.

The base has received US$2.67 billion worth of orders for 38 ships weighing 6 million tons, projects that will keep it busy until 2010.

By People's Daily Online