On February 1, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the latest data for China's shipbuilding industry. In 2025, the three major indicators of China's shipbuilding industry continued to lead globally, maintaining the world's top position for 16 consecutive years. The three major indicators—shipbuilding completions, new orders received, and orders on hand—accounted for 56.1%, 69%, and 66.8% of the global market share, respectively. Among 18 major vessel types, new orders for 16 types ranked first in the world, while the volume of orders on hand reached 274.42 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 31.5%, setting another historical record. Li Yanqing, Vice President of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, stated that in 2025, China's shipbuilding industry achieved impressive results, with all three major indicators exceeding expectations. The future market is still expected to develop relatively moderately, so it is crucial for China's shipbuilding industry to continue seizing market opportunities, securing orders quickly, and ensuring timely delivery.
Not only did the three major shipbuilding indicators continue to lead globally, but in 2025, the international competitiveness of China's leading shipbuilding enterprises also continued to strengthen, with six companies ranking among the world's top ten in terms of shipbuilding completions, new orders received, and orders on hand. Multiple types of globally leading green and intelligent vessels were delivered, marking significant breakthroughs in high-end transformation. Furthermore, China's shipbuilding industry is accelerating its intelligent transformation, with new technologies such as artificial intelligence deeply integrated into various stages of ship construction.
In the No. 2 dock of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, the overall engineering progress of the domestically built second large cruise ship, "Aida Flower City," exceeded 91%. Compared to the first domestically built large cruise ship, the construction cycle was shortened by nearly eight months. Yuan Yi, Director of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, explained that their inbound and outbound scheduling algorithms are now fully handled by AI. Materials needed within two to three days are placed near the production line. If materials arrive early or surplus exists, they are stored deeper, freeing up prime space for urgently needed items, thereby increasing warehouse space utilization by 200% and improving inbound/outbound efficiency by 50%.
The seamless process relies on the全程 command and scheduling of an "AI brain." Compared to the past, where experienced masters arranged production based on intuition, the AI-automated production schedule has increased workshop capacity by 25%. In the future, AI will streamline every stage—from design and procurement to production and logistics—not just for large domestic cruise ships but for all vessel types. Every employee will collaborate with "digital workers," enabling Chinese shipbuilding not only to "produce prolifically" but also to "craft with precision."
Next, we turn to tax big data released by the State Taxation Administration to gauge the vitality of China's consumer market and emerging industries in 2025. In 2025, trade-in policies boosted sales growth for home appliances and new energy vehicles. Tax invoice data indicated that, driven by these policies, home appliance consumption showed growth. Sales revenue for retail sectors including refrigerators and other daily appliances, gas stoves and other kitchen and sanitaryware, and mobile phones and other communication equipment increased by 17.4%, 12.9%, and 18.6% year-on-year, respectively. The popularity of new energy vehicle consumption continued to rise. According to unified motor vehicle sales invoice data, sales volume and sales revenue of new energy passenger vehicles grew by 24.3% and 21.1% year-on-year, respectively, in 2025.
Tax invoice data showed that in 2025, China's strategic emerging industries thrived, with high-tech industry sales revenue increasing by 13.9% year-on-year. Notably, sectors such as lithium-ion battery manufacturing, integrated circuit manufacturing, and biological drug manufacturing performed impressively, with sales revenue growing by 25.1%, 19.2%, and 7.7% year-on-year, respectively. Recently, in the production workshop of an optoelectronic technology R&D enterprise in Wuhan, Hubei, optical modules were rapidly produced on automated lines. In 2025, this company successfully developed a new generation of optical module products featuring high speed and low power consumption, achieving a nearly 200% year-on-year increase in overseas revenue.
Liu Qunxiang, Director of the Tax Economic Analysis Department of the Hubei Provincial Taxation Bureau, stated that in 2025, the core industries in Hubei Province—including optical communication and lasers, integrated circuits, new displays, and intelligent terminals—recorded invoice sales of 579.24 billion yuan. Among these, the optical communication and laser industry accounted for the highest proportion, with a year-on-year growth of 20.4%. Tax invoice data also revealed that in 2025, sales revenue for China's intelligent equipment manufacturing industry grew by 28.1% year-on-year. The accelerated implementation of "AI+" was particularly notable, with intelligent consumer device manufacturing and robot manufacturing increasing by 32.4% and 24% year-on-year, respectively.
At a robotics R&D enterprise in Chengdu, engineers were conducting technical iteration tests on an exoskeleton robot. This mechanically driven skeleton, operated via brainwave signals, assists paralyzed patients in rehabilitation therapy and is currently used in over 500 medical institutions nationwide. The latest data from the State Taxation Administration also indicated that in 2025, the shopping experience for "inbound tourism" continued to improve. The number of overseas tourists applying for tax refunds on departure increased by 305% year-on-year, while sales of tax-refundable goods grew by 95.9% year-on-year.
Shenzhen added over 1,000 new tax-free shops for departing tourists throughout the year, processing 68,000 tax refund transactions, a 13-fold increase year-on-year. Popular tourist destinations in Anhui, such as Huangshan and Chizhou, which attract many overseas visitors, accelerated the expansion of "instant refund" shops, prioritizing their promotion in cultural and tourism consumption venues like souvenir shops and cultural creative stores. Zhang Fuwei, Chief Accountant of the Anhui Provincial Taxation Bureau, reported that in 2025, sales of tax-refundable goods for departing tourists in Anhui Province increased by 15.92 times year-on-year, while the number of overseas tourists enjoying the departure tax refund policy grew by 5.56 times year-on-year.
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