On July 11, 2025, the 21st China Maritime Day and the “World Maritime Day” will kick off simultaneously across China. This festival, imbued with blue dreams, is themed “Green Shipping, Striving for New Strength,” and conveys to the world China’s firm commitment to advancing its maritime sector toward high-quality development. As the world’s largest goods-trading nation and the second-largest economy, China is taking large-scale commercial deployment of smart ships as a breakthrough point to accelerate the construction of a new smart shipping ecosystem, offering a Chinese solution for the global shipping industry’s green transformation.

### I. Smart Ships: The Pioneering Force Behind the Maritime Technology Revolution

Smart ships are the result of a deep integration of the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and the shipbuilding industry. At their core, they rely on sensor networks to perceive in real time the status of the vessel, the marine environment, and logistics information, and leverage intelligent algorithms to enable autonomous decision-making and precise execution. This technological innovation not only redefines traditional shipping models but also serves as a key solution to addressing the industry’s most pressing challenges.

Take the “Xin Hongzhuan” vessel delivered by Dalian COSCO KHI Shipbuilding as an example. This globally first smart ship, equipped with remote control, autonomous navigation, and scientific research and training capabilities, is fitted with six core systems—including intelligent navigation, intelligent engine room, and intelligent energy efficiency—enabling end-to-end智能化 across the entire chain, from navigation control to equipment maintenance. Its autonomous collision avoidance system can precisely identify obstacles even in complex sea conditions, and its decision-making response speed is 60% faster than that of conventional vessels. Moreover, the intelligent energy efficiency management system, by optimizing speed and route in real time, can reduce fuel consumption by 15% per voyage. These breakthroughs mark China’s smart ship technology as having risen to the world’s forefront.

### II. Policy Guidance: Building a Comprehensive Support System for the Entire Industry Chain

The Chinese government has designated smart ships as a key development area under the “Made in China 2025” initiative. By adopting a dual-drive approach—combining top-level design with scenario-driven implementation—the government is accelerating the commercialization of technological breakthroughs. The 2025 China Maritime Day announcement explicitly calls for “promoting the large-scale commercial deployment of smart ships,” and three key measures have been introduced to support this goal:

1. Technology Breakthrough Initiative: A special fund has been established to support R&D in core technologies such as ship-specific batteries, high-precision sensors, and autonomous navigation algorithms. CATL’s integrated “Ship-Shore-Cloud” solution, leveraging high-voltage, high-power charging technology, has achieved energy-replenishment efficiency for cargo ships that is nearly equivalent to traditional refueling. This solution has been successfully deployed on the world’s first battery-swapping cargo ship, the “Jining 6006,” and is now being replicated in overseas markets.

2. Standard Development Initiative: The China Classification Society, in collaboration with the world’s five major classification societies, is establishing an international standard system for smart ships that covers 28 key indicators—including autonomous classification, data security, and remote control—providing a Chinese model for global smart ship certification.

3. Open-scenario initiatives: Establish smart shipping pilot zones in strategic regions such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, opening up scenarios including inland waterway freight transport, port tugboats, and nearshore scientific research. These initiatives have attracted over 200 enterprises to participate in technology verification. At Shanghai Yangshan Port, dedicated berths for intelligent vessels have already achieved 24-hour unmanned operations, with an annual throughput exceeding 5 million TEUs.

### III. Market-Driven: Green Transformation Sparks Trillion-Dollar Growth Opportunities

Driven by the global shipping industry’s “dual-carbon” goals, the integration of smart ships and new-energy technologies is opening up a brand-new growth engine. According to data from EVTank, China’s electric vessel market will reach 36.75 billion yuan by 2026, spurring coordinated development across the industrial chain—including power batteries, intelligent systems, and energy-supply networks.

Power battery companies are emerging as key players: CATL has established an infrastructure framework for the electrification of waterborne transportation through a model that integrates “marine batteries + battery swap stations + cloud-based management.” EVE Energy’s all-time active balancing BMS system extends battery life by 30% and reduces total lifecycle costs by 25%. These innovations have enabled electric vessels to achieve, for the first time, a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than diesel-powered vessels in inland waterway shipping, accelerating their commercialization process.

Driven by the dual empowerment of policies and the market, China’s smart ship industry is experiencing explosive growth. At the 2025 China International Maritime Exhibition, the exhibition area dedicated to smart ships increased by 40% year-on-year, and the number of participating companies exceeded 300. The 180,000-ton smart bulk carrier launched by China Shipbuilding Group, which integrates methanol-fueled propulsion and an autonomous navigation system, has already secured bulk orders from European shipowners, marking China’s smart ships’ official entry into the global high-end market.

### IV. A Global Perspective: Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future for Smart Maritime Navigation

The rise of China’s smart ships is not only reshaping the domestic shipping landscape but also profoundly influencing the global ocean governance system. Through the “Belt and Road” three-dimensional connectivity network, China has already launched smart shipping cooperation with 21 countries and is building smart ship refueling bases and data-sharing platforms in regions such as the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.

On the level of technology transfer, the “Autonomous Ship Communication Protocol,” spearheaded by China, has been incorporated by the International Maritime Organization as a recommended standard, laying the foundation for global interconnectivity among smart ships. On the level of rule-making, China, together with ASEAN countries, has promoted the signing of the “Regional Convention on Safety of Smart Shipping,” establishing key rules such as the determination of liability for remotely operated vessels and the cross-border flow of data.

From the wooden sailing ships of Zheng He’s voyages to the steel behemoths of smart navigation, China’s maritime endeavors have always set innovation as their sail and openness as their rudder. Standing at a new starting point for smart navigation, China is leveraging technological breakthroughs to drive industrial transformation, fostering global consensus through open cooperation, and injecting powerful momentum into the building of a community with a shared future for the oceans. As stated in the 2025 China Maritime Day announcement: “Let smart ships sail far across the intelligent ocean, and let our blue dreams blossom amid the tides of the times!”