Chinese shipyards have repaired 60% of the vessels! Japan is investing heavily to bring its supply chain back home.

Sixty percent of ship repairs are conducted in China! The Japanese government is elevating its “dependence on overseas repair markets,” particularly China, to a national security issue.

On June 24, the Japanese government convened the “Japan Growth Strategy Council” and unveiled a draft public–private investment roadmap, designating shipbuilding and marine environmental technologies as among the 17 priority strategic sectors for support. The plan calls for a combined public–private investment of approximately JPY 1.2 trillion (about RMB 50.39 billion) by fiscal year 2035. A key policy initiative is to bolster ship‑repair capabilities, with an estimated allocation of JPY 100 billion (roughly RMB 4.21 billion) to systematically strengthen domestic ship‑repair and shipbuilding capacities.

The roadmap explicitly sets out to establish a maritime industrial chain that is independent of foreign countries, with the strategic goal of building energy‑transport vessels in Japan and carrying out their maintenance and management both domestically and in friendly nations, thereby enhancing the nation’s energy security and economic security.

At present, approximately 93% of the repair work for ocean-going vessels owned by Japanese shipowners is carried out overseas, with domestic repairs accounting for only about 7%. Among overseas repair markets, Chinese shipyards hold more than 60% of the share, making China the primary destination for Japanese shipowners’ vessel maintenance.

For a long time, Chinese shipyards have been able to secure large‑scale vessel‑repair contracts at competitive prices, thanks to lower labor costs, a well‑developed industrial support system, and sustained policy backing. At the same time, China boasts a substantial number of large dry docks and a highly skilled workforce, enabling it to meet the repair requirements of all types of large vessels.

By contrast, Japan’s domestic ship‑repair industry has continued to shrink amid a prolonged market slump, with many shipyards scaling back operations or even exiting the market. This has resulted in an insufficient number of large repair docks, a shortage of skilled workers, and constrained repair capacity. For reasons of cost and efficiency, Japanese shipowners have long favored Chinese shipyards for their repair needs.

In the view of the Japanese government, this heavy reliance on “specific countries” has become a potential economic security risk; accordingly, enhancing the resilience of the maritime industry chain has been placed high on the policy agenda.

According to the roadmap, Japan plans to allocate approximately 100 billion yen in public–private funding to the ship‑repair sector by fiscal year 2035, with a focus on advancing work in three key areas:

First, Japan will expand its ship‑repair infrastructure and dock capacity. The country will prioritize the construction and expansion of specialized repair facilities for high‑value‑added vessel types such as car carriers and LNG carriers, while also adding critical equipment like large cranes, thereby enhancing its domestic capability to undertake maintenance work on large, deep‑draft ocean‑going vessels.

Secondly, Japan will promote digital and intelligent upgrades. To address labor shortages and enhance maintenance efficiency, it will actively adopt advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotic automation, while also advancing the digitization and standardization of maintenance expertise to restructure its system for passing on technical knowledge.

Third, it is essential to ensure the maintenance needs of government vessels that are critical to national security. In recent years, as the regional security environment has evolved, Japan’s demand for government vessel maintenance has continued to rise. Japan plans to expand its domestic repair capacity to achieve 100% indigenous maintenance for these vessels, while also preventing such maintenance from encroaching on commercial ship‑repair resources, thereby establishing a stable maintenance system that balances both military and civilian requirements.

Meanwhile, Japan has also recognized that it will be difficult to fully bring all maintenance operations back home in the short term. Accordingly, the roadmap proposes strengthening cooperation with friendly nations and, based on the distribution of major shipping routes, establishing a network of overseas maintenance bases in regions such as Southeast Asia and the United States, thereby creating a dual‑layered assurance system comprising “domestic maintenance capabilities” and an “overseas network of partner countries.”

In addition, Japan plans to seize the technological leadership in next-generation green shipping. The roadmap outlines a focus on advancing the research, development, and construction of ammonia‑fuelled vessels, with the aim of establishing a standardized design framework for such ships and capturing global orders. At the same time, Japan will push forward the R&D of hydrogen‑ and methanol‑fuelled engines and build domestic shipbuilding capabilities in these areas, laying the groundwork for the future development of zero‑emission maritime industries.