Shipbuilding enterprises in east China's Shandong province are presently holding orders for building 120 ships with a contract volume totaling 4.7 billion yuan (566 million US dollars), said sources with the provincial economic and trade commission.

About 430 million US dollars of the shipbuilding orders are for the purpose of exports, the source said, adding that the province reaped 59.74 million US dollars through ship exports in the first four months of this year, representing a 4-fold increase year-on- year.

The province has seized rare opportunities to expand ship production and exports amid booming global ship markets, the source said.

For instance, the Beihai Heavy Industry Group (a major shipyard of Shandong) has developed an annual ship building capability of 4. 7 million tons by investing 6.3 billion yuan (759 million US dollars).

Meanwhile, a group of other major shipyards such as the Lingshan Shipyard, Weihai Shipyard, the Yellow Sea Shipyard are engaging in massive technological upgrading and expansion projects.

The province is expected to develop an annual shipbuilding capability of 10 million tons by 2010, the source said.

Source: Xinhua