Chinese Shipbuilding Industry Faces Credit Crunch

According to China Daily, the nation’s shipbuilding sector is suffering from a shortage of funds. China's ship builders received 1.18 million deadweight tons (DWT) of new orders in the first five months this year, a decrease of 96 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industries and Information Technology (MIIT). Meanwhile, orders of 55 vessels, or 2.32 DWT, were canceled during the same period, about 1.2 percent of the industry's total holding orders as of the end of May, said the ministry. Most domestic banks are lending with caution, even as the country's top economic planner vowed to fund the industry in early June.