Not long ago Zhang Zhirong, a successful young property tycoon in Shanghai, decided to try something new: shipbuilding.
In 2005, he started building his first shipyard. A mere three years later, he delivered his first ship, setting an industry record for China. Mr Zhang’s company, Rongsheng, was on its way to becoming the sixth largest shipyard in the world, the position it occupies today.
The rapid rise of Rongsheng, which raised $1.8bn in a Hong Kong IPO last year, underlines the meteoric expansion of China’s shipyards. Ten years ago, China built less than 10 per cent of the world’s ships. Today, it is the world’s largest builder, measured by deadweight volume.