(Yicai) May 20 -- The number of new shipbuilding orders in China soared 59 percent in the first quarter of the year from a year earlier.

China’s shipbuilding orders reached 24.1 million deadweight tons in the three months ended March 31, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the global total, according to statistics from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.

The country’s shipbuilding output jumped 35 percent to almost 12.4 million DWT in the first quarter from a year earlier, making up 54 percent of the global total, the CANSI noted. Meanwhile, holding orders at Chinese shipbuilders rose 35 percent to just over 154 million DWT, accounting for 57 percent of the world’s total.

Of the new orders received by Chinese shipbuilders in the first quarter, over 35 percent were for oil carriers, and 8.5 percent for gas carriers, data from the CANSI also showed. Bulk cargo ships made up 38 percent of the new orders, and container vessels nearly 12 percent.

In terms of completed orders, about 49 percent of the ships made in China in the first quarter were bulk cargo ships, 40 percent were container vessels, 6.5 percent were oil carriers, and 1.5 percent were gas carriers, according to CANSI data.

Editor: Futura Costaglione