88 Chinese shipbuilding companies under the watch of China Association of The National Shipbuilding Industry (CANSI) recorded a profit of CNY2.06bn (US$330m) for the first five months of 2015, a rise of 17% year on year (YoY).

The shipyards registered a combined revenue of CNY102bn during the same period, up 4.4% YoY, while their total industrial output was up 5.5% YoY at CNY163bn.

New orders placed at Chinese yards slumped 76.8% YoY in the first quarter of 2015 because of the sluggish shipping and offshore market, while the yards' profit fell 87.8% YoY to CNY170m, data released by CANSI showed.

The profit drop continued in April and the yards' profit totalled CNY1.85bn during the January-April period, a drop of 18.9% YoY, although their revenue increased by 5.3% YoY to CNY87.6bn.

The major problem the shipbuilding sector is currently facing is the oversupply of shipping capacity in the market, decreasing the trade volume of newbuildings, as well as the low prices of newbuildings, a ship analyst said.

Beijing released the "Made in China 2025" plan in May to strengthen China's manufacturing capabilities, including ocean engineering equipment and high-technology ships, which is aimed at helping the shipbuilding industry, according to the analyst.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also pointed out that the demand for new ships will change in the future. There will be less demand for regular ships such as bulk carriers, and more demand for high-technology ships and offshore facilities. Cost-effective and environment-friendly ships will also be favoured by the market, stated the ministry.