China will implement a shipbuilding license system, as
stipulated by a draft of the Shipbuilding License Management
Law.
The Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National
Defense published the draft rules Tuesday, seeking public comment,
the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.
The State hopes to take advantage of the license system to
encourage Chinese shipyards to adopt advanced equipment and
technologies, as well as modern management methods.
It is an attempt at improving ship quality and security,
promoting environmental-friendly production, eliminating out-dated
production capacities, and optimizing and upgrading the ship
industry structure.
According to the draft, shipbuilding licenses fall into two
large categories: manufacture (including ship reconstruction) and
maintenance. There?is also further detailed classification in
terms of ships' usage and building materials.
The draft stipulates that enterprises without shipbuilding
licenses are prohibited production. Those using faked or
manipulated licenses or submitting false application materials for
a license will be fined between 100,000 yuan (US$13,247) and
500,000 yuan. Their illegal income will be confiscated and their
direct principals will be fined 20,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan.
China has become the world's No 3 shipbuilder after Japan and
South Korea, and China's shipbuilding industry accounts for 20
percent of the global market.
In the first half of this year, China's shipbuilding industry
reported a year-on-year 151 percent increase in profit, and the
current volumes of new and remaining vessel orders in the period
both exceeded those of Japan and South Korea for the first
time.
(Chinadaily.com.cn September 6, 2007)
