China's shipbuilding industry saw new vessel orders surge 49.5 percent year-on-year in the first five months of 2023, official data showed.

New orders, a major indicator of the shipbuilding industry, stood at 26.45 million deadweight tons (DWT) during the five-month period, with a global market share of 67.3 percent, according to statistics released by Beijing-based China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.

The country's shipbuilding output grew by 15.4 percent on a yearly basis to 16.47 million DWT between January and May, accounting for 48.1 percent of the world's total.

By the end of May, the sector's holding orders totaled 117.99 million DWT, up 15.5 percent year-on-year, claiming 51.6 percent of the world's market share.