Wedoany.com Report on Mar 18th, According to the recently released "2025 China Marine Economy Statistical Bulletin" (referred to as the "Bulletin") by China's Ministry of Natural Resources, the added value of China's marine shipbuilding industry reached 181.1 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 25.1%. Measured by compensated gross tonnage, the country's share of the global market for new orders, completed ships, and order backlog of seagoing vessels all continued to exceed 50%, maintaining the world's top position for the 16th consecutive year. 
The Bulletin shows that preliminary calculations indicate China's gross ocean product reached 11.018 trillion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 5.5%, contributing 0.4 percentage points to national economic growth, demonstrating a steady and progressive momentum.
The leading role of the marine service industry has become more prominent. The integration of marine culture and tourism stood out, with the quality of marine tourism development continuously improving. Its added value for the year reached 1.6273 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. The marine transportation industry demonstrated resilience despite pressures from escalating geopolitical conflicts and rising trade protectionism. Its added value for the year reached 746.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%, achieving relatively rapid growth.
Consumer vitality in the marine sector was effectively stimulated. Cruise tourism became a significant growth driver for marine tourism consumption. In 2025, the cruise economy entered a new development cycle, with inbound tourism achieving leapfrog growth. The annual number of cruise passengers reached 1.3 million, a year-on-year increase of 25.3%.
Marine foreign trade maintained steady growth. In 2025, the foreign trade cargo throughput of China's coastal ports increased by 4.7% year-on-year; the export value via waterway transport increased by 5.4% year-on-year; and the number of inbound and outbound freight vessels increased by 3.8% year-on-year. Exports of major marine-related products showed strong momentum, playing a significant role in supporting marine economic growth. In 2025, the national ship export value reached 394.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.4%.
It is worth noting that the digitalization level of marine industries continues to improve. China's first deep-sea green technology test ship, "Future", was delivered, achieving innovative breakthroughs in modularity and intelligence compared to traditional research or test vessels. The "VTS Spirit" intelligent system for maritime traffic management at Yangshan was officially launched for trial operation, enabling 24-hour real-time perception of vessel dynamics and automatic identification and warning of abnormal behaviors, enhancing maritime traffic management efficiency. The "Zhi Hai · Turing" high-efficiency AI enabling platform for the maritime sector was released, providing support for the research and development of smart ships and maritime intelligent equipment.
