BEIJING, Oct. 15 -- China's shipbuilding industry recorded sound development in the third quarter (Q3) of the year, with increases in output, new orders and holding orders ranking first in the world, official data showed.

The country's shipbuilding output hit 9.61 million deadweight tonnes (dwt) during this period, increasing 3.33 percent year on year, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology revealed.

New orders, another significant indicator in the shipbuilding industry, rose 98.9 percent year on year to 19.67 million dwt, while the sector's holding orders totaled 133.93 million dwt by the end of September.

From January to August, combined revenue of firms in the industry stood at 373.8 billion yuan (about 52.08 billion U.S. dollars), expanding by 23.2 percent year on year, while the profits of this sector surged by 191 percent to 12.8 billion yuan.