China's biggest shipbuilding company was launched Friday through a consolidation between two state-owned shipyards in Dalian, a port city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The new firm, based at the Dalian Shipyard and Dalian New Shipyard, has been named the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (Group) Co. Ltd., with a registered capital of nearly 3.4 billion yuan (about US$419.7 million).

The China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, a central government-controlled conglomerate, is the biggest shareholder of the new company, controlling 75.85 percent.

The remaining shares are held by China Construction Bank's branch in Dalian, the China Huarong Asset Management Corp and China Orient Asset Management Corp.

"We aim to make the new company a leader in China's shipbuilding industry amid intense competition from international and domestic rivals," Sun Bo, chairman of the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, was quoted as saying by Saturday's China Daily.

Sun said the company's shipbuilding capacity would reach 2.66 million deadweight tonnages next year and increase to 6 million by 2010 and to 8.5 million by 2020.

Meanwhile, its actual output will top 2 million tonnages next year and grow to 5 million by 2010 and to 7.4 million in another 10 years.

Sun predicted the company's sales will expand to more than 27 billion yuan (about US$3.3 billion) by 2010 and to more than 50 billion yuan (about US$6.2 billion) by 2020, from the 10.4 billion yuan (about US$1.3 billion) expected in 2006.

According to the company's press release, it will strive to maintain profits next year, despite rising material costs and the impact of the renminbi's appreciation earlier this year in July.

The creation of the firm is seen as a landmark in China shipbuilding industry's expansion plans over the next decade.

Li Changyin, general manager of the China Shipbuilding Industry, said the parent group aimed to have a shipbuilding capacity of more than 10 million tonnages with core-business turnover exceeding 80 billion yuan (about US$9.9 billion) by 2010.

The China Shipbuilding Industry also expects to become one of the world's top 500 multinationals during a five-year period from 2010, Li said.

The Dalian Shipyard, built in 1898, had total assets of 5.7 billion yuan (about US$703 million) and more than 10,000 employees at the end of 2004.

Total assets of the Dalian New Shipyard, formed 15 years ago, stood at 7.4 billion yuan (about US$913.5 million) at the end of 2004, employing 5,800 people. 

(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2005)