China's shipbuilding giant, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), set up its ship design and research center in Beijing Friday, with a registered capital of 68 million yuan (about US$8.2 million).

The opening of the center is regarded as one important step for CSIC to improve its ship design and development capacity at the moment that world ship owners are showing greater interest than ever in the Chinese shipbuilding market, and China is facing strategic opportunities in developing its shipbuilding industry.

The new ship design brings together the country's shipbuilding forces, with the CSIC sharing a controlling stake, and eight other shipbuilding companies affiliated to CSIC strong in ship design, trade and shipbuilding also share stakes into the center.

The ship design center will mainly work on research, design and development of new ships and marine projects, as well as the technical transfer and service concerning shipbuilding, said Zhao Zhanjun, general manager of the center.

Zhao said CSIC plans to develop the center into a high-tech ship and marine research and development center. "We will cooperate with national scientific research sections and universities, as well as world noted ship design and research agencies in the future," he said. "Trying to raise our capacity to design 10-15 ships each year after 5 years."

According to Zhao, the Beijing-based CSIC ship design center is planning to set up branch shipbuilding research and development centers in Dalian, Huludao, Qingdao, Wuhan and Shanghai.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2004)