by Manal Barakat, SeaNewsEditor

The first half of 2025 has seen a significant decline in new shipbuilding orders in China.

According to a report by the shipowners' organisation BIMCO, the country's market share dropped from 72% to 52%.

This decrease is largely attributed to the impending US Trade Representative (USTR) port fees, which are set to be implemented in October 2025.

These fees will impose charges on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated vessels calling at US ports.

In addition, container-specific fees will be applied per container, and a per-tonne charge will be imposed on Chinese vessel operators.

Filipe Gouveia, shipping analysis manager at BIMCO, stated, "Growing concerns over USTR port fees on Chinese ships in US ports likely contributed to a decrease in contracting in China."

This trend has been further amplified by a drop in global ship contracting and a shift in the types of ships being ordered.

Despite the decline, BIMCO claims that new deals have increased in the container shipping and cruise sectors.

As per a report from Splash247, data from Clarksons Research indicates that new orders at Chinese shipyards fell by 68% year-on-year to 26.3 million deadweight tonnage (dwt) in the first half of 2025.

Consequently, China's share of global new orders slid from 75% to 56%.