A foreign ship docks at a shipyard of Zhoushan Putuo Changhong Shipyard Co. [Photo/wifizs.cn]

Zhoushan in East China's Zhejiang province, which handles nearly half of the country's foreign ship repairs annually, repaired 486 foreign ships in January and February of 2025, marking a year-on-year increase of approximately 15.7 percent.

Zhoushan Putuo Changhong Shipyard Co began repairing foreign ships in 2022 and has seen the number of ships repaired and output value increase by 30 percent annually. Its regular customer base mainly comes from countries such as Greece, Singapore, and South Korea.

"In the first quarter of this year, we expect the output value of ship repairs to reach 150 million yuan ($20.71 million), an increase of about 50 percent compared to last year," said Yin Yongtang, general manager of the Zhoushan Putuo Changhong Shipyard Co.

Since last year, Zhoushan entry-exit border inspection station has been piloting the "supervision system of gangway boarding" at Putuo Changhong, enhancing port clearance efficiency. Ship repair workers can now board the ship with facial recognition in just a few seconds.

Additionally, in January and February this year, the number of ships repaired by Wanbang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) Co increased by 11.1 percent compared to the same period last year.