From "Green Engine" to "Industry Smart Choice": How does the Shipping Industry Index "Ride the Waves"?

Questioning AI · How does the green transformation drive the ship index to increase by over 19% in the past year?

“Jinzhengyan” Xunfeng / Author

March 13, 2026, the “14th Five-Year Plan Outline” was released, clearly proposing to accelerate the building of a maritime power and promote high-quality development of the marine economy. The outline requires consolidating and enhancing the advantages of marine equipment manufacturing; promoting industrial structure adjustments for ships and related industries, and strengthening and optimizing high-end ships and marine engineering equipment bases.

The implementation of the outline sets the direction for the development of the shipbuilding industry and makes the marine economy a market focus. Against this background, how does the Zhixuan Ship Industry Index, as a benchmark for the marine power strategy and capturing industry upgrades, deeply reflect the development trends and core logic of the industry?

1. Green transformation initiates the ship cycle, with the China Securities Zhixuan Ship Industry Index rising 19.6% in the past year

Under the backdrop of high-quality marine economic development and the marine power strategy, the ship industry is not just simple “shipbuilding,” but a high-end manufacturing cluster spanning upstream and downstream.

The China Securities Zhixuan Ship Industry Index selects 40 representative listed companies involved in ship materials, shipbuilding, ship supporting, shipping, and other related fields as index samples, reflecting the overall performance of listed companies in the ship industry.

Currently, domestic shipbuilding companies continue to hold a leading share in the global market. According to data from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry, from January to December 2025, domestic completed ship tonnage was 53.69 million DWT, up 11.4% year-on-year, accounting for 56.1% of the world total; new orders amounted to 107.82 million DWT, accounting for 69.0% of the global total; by the end of December, the order backlog was 274.42 million DWT, up 31.5% year-on-year, representing 66.8% of the global total. The three major indicators of shipbuilding have maintained global leadership for 16 consecutive years.

The shipbuilding industry exhibits typical long-cycle global characteristics. The ship cycle is a common cyclical fluctuation phenomenon in shipping and shipbuilding industries, mainly reflected in changes in capacity supply and demand, as well as new ship orders. Currently, the global economic recovery is driving a rebound in shipping demand, tightening capacity. Meanwhile, the aging global fleet increases demand for new ships. After more than a decade of deep adjustment and industry clearing, the global shipbuilding industry is entering a new long-cycle starting point.

Policy-wise, in 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) implemented new regulations for carbon emission reduction. Mandatory emissions cuts combined with rising carbon costs accelerate the phase-out of high-energy-consuming old ships. This leads to large orders for LNG, methanol, and other new energy green-powered ships, directly increasing industry orders.

Driven by multiple industry benefits, ship-themed funds have performed steadily. As of April 2, 2026, the China Securities Zhixuan Ship Industry Index increased by 6.56% over the past three months and 19.6% over the past year.

2. From “Green Engine” to “Industry Zhixuan,” leading companies in the ship index show high growth

The constituent stocks of the China Securities Zhixuan Ship Industry Index focus not only on midstream shipbuilding but also cover upstream components and downstream shipping, aiming to comprehensively capture the overall industry prosperity and development changes within the marine industrial ecosystem.

Moreover, the index emphasizes “smart selection” in its sampling. It excludes securities with an average return on net assets over the past three years in the bottom 5% and those with the highest 10% of daily average market value over the past year from the candidate pool.

Specifically, the top ten weights of the China Securities Zhixuan Ship Industry Index are China Power, China State Shipbuilding Corporation, China Ship Defense, China Ship Technology, Tianhai Defense, Zhenhua Heavy Industries, Yaxing Anchor Chain, China Marine Defense, Weichai Heavy Machinery, and Runbang Shares. Leading shipbuilding manufacturer China State Shipbuilding, power system supplier China Power, and core component companies like Weichai Heavy Machinery and Yaxing Anchor Chain are all included.

Ship research, manufacturing, and offshore equipment companies, as core components of the midstream marine economy, empower marine transportation, offshore oil and gas, wind power resource development, and marine scientific exploration, supporting high-quality marine economic development.

In terms of performance of major holdings, China State Shipbuilding has benefited from an upgraded order structure, with an increased proportion of high-value-added ship types and higher prices for similar products year-on-year. The construction cycle for ship types has shortened, production efficiency has improved, and operating performance has increased year-on-year. In the 2025 earnings forecast, China State Shipbuilding’s net profit attributable to parent is expected to be between 7 billion and 8.4 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of approximately 65.89% to 99.07% after restating for consolidated completion; and a year-on-year growth of 93.68% to 132.42% based on the company’s own accounting. China Ship Defense’s 2025 performance is expected to grow significantly, with revenue reaching 1.01B yuan, up 5.90% year-on-year; net profit attributable to parent of 1.008 billion yuan, an increase of over 167% year-on-year.

Overall, the ship industry is in a new long-cycle upward phase. The “14th Five-Year” plan further guides the implementation of high-end manufacturing and marine power strategies, accelerating green ship transformation. The China Securities Zhixuan Ship Industry Index focuses on high-quality core assets in the ship industry, aligning with the upward cycle of shipbuilding and the global trend of green and international development in the industry.

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