China’s Shipbuilding Capacity: 232 Times Greater Than United States SeptembeSer 13, 2024By: Brandon J. Weichert
Summary and Key Points:
China’s shipbuilding capabilities now vastly outpace those of the United States, with a production capacity 232 times greater, a gap that continues to widen.
-While some argue that U.S. ships are technologically superior, Chinese warships are increasingly advanced, designed to overwhelm American vessels.
-Meanwhile, U.S. naval forces face maintenance issues and lag behind China in ship numbers.
-America’s once-dominant naval power is at risk as China’s naval advancements and strategic shipbuilding efforts continue to surge.
Comparing China's shipbuilding capacity with other countries
Jiangnan Shipyard
“China’s shipbuilding capacity is 232 times greater than that of the United States.”
That is the headline by Cathalijne Adams in a blog post for the Alliance for American Manufacturing in January 2023. The situation has only worsened for the Americans since then. A common response to the problem is to claim that while China may be able to build more ships, those ships are technologically inferior to those of the U.S. Navy.
Well, even that is wrong.
Chinese warships are increasingly technologically proficient. What’s more, they are designed with the specific intention of overwhelming U.S. warships with superior firepower. Further, the Ukraine War, which has alienated both China and Russia from the West and sent the two countries into a warm embrace. Moscow announced that it will begin sharing with China the specifications for advanced submarine propulsion systems that previous Russian governments had refused to share with Beijing.These capabilities, combined with China’s impressive manufacturing capacity, means only one thing: America’s days of fielding the largest and most technologically advanced navy are numbered.
The Broken U.S. Navy
Look at the sad state of existing U.S. Navy warships. Countless warships have been photographed with rusty, discolored hulls. This indicates they are being run ragged and are not properly maintained, likely due to the constraints of U.S. military shipyards, as well as deferred maintenance.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has grown decisively, in sophistication as well as numbers. In fact, some reports suggest that the PLAN will reach 435 ships by 2030.
The U.S. Navy, on the other hand, has around 300 ships. This has created a numerical imbalance between the U.S. Navy and the PLAN. At some point, China will no longer be deterred by the simple presence of an American flat top sailing very near China’s shores.
China’s shipbuilders are supported by a modern and large defense industrial base. State subsidies are given to the shipbuilders, and the Chinese shipyards have but one mission: to make China the world’s leading power.
At some point, soon, I fear, the Americans won’t be able to bluff their way out of a possible fight.
Source: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/chinas-shipbuilding-capacity-232-times-greater-united-states-212736
