Recently, Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding) released its financial performance report for the first half of 2026. Data show that the company achieved operating income of 17.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.2%; net profit was 5.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.4%. Both revenue and profitability levels set the best record for the same period in history.
Against the backdrop of the concentrated release of structural dividends in the global shipbuilding market, China's largest private shipbuilding enterprise is telling a wonderful story about inheritance, innovation and expansion with its constantly refreshing historical achievements.
The semi-annual report is in full bloom
In the first half of 2026, China's shipbuilding industry delivered a historic report card.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, from January to June 2026, my country's shipbuilding completion volume was 36.5 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 51.2%, accounting for 62.2% of the world's total; the number of new orders received was 121.06 million deadweight tons, a year-on-year increase of 173.1%, accounting for 82.3% of the world's total. Domestic shipbuilding companies have won more than 80% of global new shipbuilding orders, and industry prosperity continues to rise.
As the leading private shipbuilding company, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding accurately followed this market trend and delivered a valuable half-year answer.
The financial report shows that core shipbuilding business revenue reached 16.5 billion yuan, accounting for about 94% of total revenue, a year-on-year increase of 34.8%. This growth was not driven by price cuts, but the release of value from early high-priced orders entering the centralized delivery cycle - a total of 27 new ships were delivered in the first half of the year, completing 47% of the full-year target of 58 ships. More than half of them are container ships and gas carriers that comply with the latest environmental protection regulations. The gross profit margin of a single ship is significantly higher than that of traditional ship types.
Profitability is equally impressive: the gross profit margin of the shipbuilding segment increased from 35.2% to 37.1%. The delivery of high value-added ship types such as ultra-large container ships and very large ethane carriers (VLEC) has pushed up the average price and profit margin of a single ship at the same time.
Not only is the main shipbuilding industry making rapid progress, but related sectors are also blossoming in many areas, forming a good pattern of coordinated development.
The shipping business is experiencing growth. Revenue in the first half of the year increased by 14.5% year-on-year to 585.4 million yuan. Gross profit margin increased by 9.6 percentage points year-on-year to 35.1%. The increase in charter rates was indispensable. Associates and joint ventures continued to contribute stable income, of which Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding contributed 341.6 million yuan and Zhoushan Tsuneishi Shipbuilding contributed 107.8 million yuan.
As of June 30, the group's net cash reached 12.5 billion yuan, and its balance sheet remained stable.
The order reserve is also impressive. In the first half of the year, 38 new orders were received, with a total value of US$1.75 billion. After July, another US$200 million in new ship orders were received. Currently, the 2029 delivery ship slots are nearly full, and the 2030 delivery ship slots have officially started accepting orders.
It is worth noting that the order structure is rich, including 151 container ships, 41 oil tankers, 37 bulk carriers, and 27 gas ships of various types. Clean energy ships account for nearly 70%, covering a full range of ship types such as LNG dual fuel and liquid ammonia transportation.
The newly put into operation Yangzi Hongyuan base confirmed shipbuilding revenue of 545 million yuan in the second quarter, becoming a new growth point for the group's shipbuilding business. This high-tech clean energy ship manufacturing base with a total investment of 3 billion yuan is accelerating in accordance with the intelligent and digital planning concept.
The industry has cycles, and companies are resilient. Taking advantage of the shipbuilding trend, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding does not rely on low prices to seize the market, but relies on the collaboration of products, production capacity, and capital to embark on a path of high-quality growth.
Relay between two generations of shipping kings
Behind the dazzling semi-annual report is half a century of strategic inheritance and innovative breakthroughs by Ren Yuanlin and Ren Letian, father and son.
Ren Yuanlin, founder of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Industry
The story begins in 1975. Young Ren Yuanlin entered the Jiangyin Shipyard, starting as an ordinary welder, and was promoted to deputy director at the age of 29. During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the shipyard was in trouble. Ren Yuanlin rose to the challenge and activated the endogenous power of the enterprise through reform and restructuring.
In 2007, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding was listed on the Singapore Exchange, becoming the first domestic private shipbuilding company to be listed overseas, opening up international financing channels and laying a capital foundation for corporate expansion.
One generation has built a solid foundation for the shipbuilding industry, and the next generation is thinking about how to amplify the value of the industry. In 2019, Ren Yuanlin smoothly completed the handover and handed over the chairman of the group to his son Ren Letian, opening a new chapter in the development of the company.
Ren Letian, Chairman and CEO of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group
This post-80s leader returned to China after graduating from the UK with a master's degree in 2005. He did not directly land a high-level position, but worked step by step through grassroots positions such as translator, construction worker, and workshop director, and has a clear understanding of the industry's pain points and corporate advantages.
After taking office, Ren Letian implemented a modern management style and encouraged the team to take the lead in decision-making, while he focused more on the group's long-term strategy.
The foresight of two generations has opened up a broader capital territory in addition to the main business.
In 2021, the group spun off its investment business to establish Yangtze River Financial Holdings, which was listed in Singapore in 2022. In November 2025, Yangtze River Maritime Development Co., Ltd. was successfully listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange.
So far, a total of three listed companies under Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group have successfully entered the international capital market - Yangzijiang Shipbuilding "builds good ships", Yangzijiang Financial Holdings "manages money well", and Yangzijiang Maritime "invests in good ships". The three "capital giant ships" have formed a unique "Yangtze River System" in the Singapore capital market.
As an independently listed maritime investment platform, Yangzijiang Maritime has also delivered impressive results. Total revenue in the first half of 2026 was US$81.6 million, a year-on-year increase of 49%. The fleet size exceeded 120 ships, and more than 60 new ships are under construction and to be delivered. Relying on the light asset model, the company has locked in high-quality ship slots in batches and liquidated assets through dual channels of long-term leasing and forward sales. In the past nine months, 12 new ship sales contracts have been signed. The total value is approximately US$500 million, creating stable cash flow returns and fully seizing the investment opportunities brought by the shipping cycle.
Industry-based, capital-empowered. The two generations of helmsmen have inherited the original intention of serving the country through industry, and iterative development ideas according to the changes of the times. Just as Ren Yuanlin has expressed his determination to delve into the field of shipbuilding many times in public: "If the sea is not dry, we must build ships. "
More than just shipbuilding
The key to Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's continuous breakthroughs in historical achievements is that it never stops at shipbuilding.
Recently, the first 175,000 cubic meter LNG carrier "YANGZE LNG 01" built by Yangzi Xinfu Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Yangtze River Shipbuilding Group, was officially delivered. The ship is the first domestic Mark III Flex membrane-type large-scale LNG carrier built by a private shipbuilding company.
LNG carriers are specialized ships for transporting -163°C low-temperature liquefied natural gas. Due to their extremely high design and construction difficulties, they are known as the "Crown Pearl of the Shipbuilding Industry."
What is little known is that these two LNG ships were once canceled by the shipowner. Faced with this change, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding did not give up its strategic layout of entering the large LNG carrier market, but chose to bear the project risks on its own and continue to advance the construction. The successful delivery of the first ship now means that this layout has officially achieved phased results.
Not only LNG ships, but also in the clean energy special ship track, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has successively achieved multiple "domestic private firsts". In 2024, the company won the first ultra-large ethane carrier VLEC and ultra-large liquid ammonia carrier VLAC order from a domestic private shipyard; in June this year, the world's largest 100,000 cubic meter VLEC was successfully delivered, breaking the long-term foreign monopoly in the field of related liquid cargo tank technology. The technical reserves of green high-tech ship types continue to be implemented into physical products. Successive breakthroughs in green and intelligent high-end ship types are reshaping the product structure of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Industry.
While technology is making breakthroughs, the industrial chain is also continuing to expand.
On April 15, 2026, Jiangsu Yangzi Hongda Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Industry, officially signed a contract to settle in the Nantong Tongzhou Bay Demonstration Zone, with a registered capital of US$100 million.
Nantong Municipal Party Committee Secretary Wu Xinming and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group Chairman Ren Letian jointly witnessed the signing. This is the first time that a shipyard under Yangzijiang Shipyard has entered Nantong, and it is also the first time that the company has made a large-scale deployment in the shipbuilding field.
For a long time, the core business of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has been highly concentrated in the shipbuilding process, and maintenance and modification have always been service shortcomings. Yangzihongda is positioned as a maintenance, modification and delivery base for green high-tech ships. This means that Yangzijiang Shipbuilding is no longer just a shipyard, but has transformed into an integrated "manufacturing + service", further improving the entire industry chain ecosystem from construction to post-delivery services.
So far, the number of shipyards under the jurisdiction of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has increased to 5. From Yangzi Hongyuan in Jingjiang to Yangzi Hongda in Nantong, from "building" to "repair" to "modification", an industrial landscape covering the entire life cycle of ships is accelerating to take shape.
In the first half of 2026, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's revenue and net profit both hit a record high for the same period in history. This is not an accidental bonus, but the fruit of years of technological accumulation, continuous struggle between generations, and the layout of the entire industry chain.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Industry, which continues to make breakthroughs and innovations, is heading towards a broader ocean.
References:
China Times: "Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Industry made a net profit of 5.4 billion yuan in the first half of the year, and the order book on hand has reached 2030. Chinese shipbuilding companies have taken over 80% of the world's new ship orders."
International Shipping Network: "Private shipping companies win the "Crown Pearl"! Yangzijiang Shipping Industry’s first large-scale LNG ship delivered》
China Shipping News: "The fleet exceeds 120 ships!" Ren Yuanlin "plays with" the profit model》