On the afternoon of October 9, Wuhu Shipyard Co., Ltd., Wah Kwong Maritime Transport Holdings Ltd., and Yingxing Financial Leasing (Anhui) Co., Ltd. held a grand signing ceremony in Wuhu for the establishment of a joint venture company and new shipbuilding contracts at the Wuhu Municipal Government Center, marking the entry of the tripartite cooperation into a substantive stage.
Wah Kwong Maritime Transport and Yingxing Financial Leasing jointly established Huaxing Shipping Co., Ltd. and placed an order with Wuhu Shipyard for a total of 12 (4+4+4) 64,500 DWT Ultramax bulk carriers. The two parties will use Huaxing Shipping as a platform to jointly build and operate a modern fleet characterized by low energy consumption, advanced technology, and cost leadership, actively responding to the future green transformation demands of the shipping market.
Leaders and representatives from the three parties attended and witnessed the signing, including: Xu Zhi, Deputy Secretary of the Wuhu Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and Mayor of Wuhu City; Zhu Zi, Vice Mayor of Wuhu City; from Wah Kwong Maritime Transport, Executive Chairman Zhao Shiqing, Managing Director and Captain Zhou Jianfeng, Chief Financial Officer Li Wenyin, and General Manager of Wah Kwong Dayuan Shipping Co., Ltd., Captain Chen Changzheng; from Yingxing Financial Leasing, Chairman Lyu Xibing and General Manager Zhu Qi; from Wuhu Shipyard, Party Committee Secretary and Chairman Zhang Zhao, and Deputy General Manager Zheng Tianbao; and Bao Siyu, Executive Vice President of Chery Holding Group Co., Ltd.
This cooperation innovatively establishes a deeply integrated business model of “Shipping Company + Shipyard + Industrial Leasing,” fully leveraging Wah Kwong Maritime Transport’s global operational capabilities, Wuhu Shipyard’s production and intelligent manufacturing advantages, and Yingxing Financial Leasing’s financial empowerment capabilities. This model not only secures a batch of high-quality, low-energy-consumption, modern shipping capacity but also drives the industry steadily towards green, low-carbon, and efficient operations.
Under the new model, the shipowner, shipyard, and financial capital collaborate closely: the shipyard secures stable orders, effectively smoothing out industry cycle fluctuations; the joint venture company locks in favorable ship construction slots in advance, significantly enhancing the operational efficiency of the entire chain. This layout not only strengthens the risk resistance capabilities of all parties but also allows the partners to navigate market changes with greater ease, jointly promoting a healthier and more sustainable future for the industry.
This cooperation marks a key step for Wuhu Shipyard in promoting the trinity business model of “Shipping + Manufacturing + Finance,” further consolidating its leading position in the bulk carrier construction market.
Zhang Zhao, Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of Wuhu Shipyard, stated at the signing ceremony: “This cooperation is not only the starting point for a win-win situation for the three parties but also a model for the deep integration of China’s shipbuilding industry and shipping finance. We will use Huaxing Shipping as a platform to continuously promote shipbuilding and operation, the application of green technologies, and international market expansion, jointly building a modern fleet with global competitiveness.”
As a backbone Chinese shipbuilding enterprise with a 125-year history, Wuhu Shipyard is actively promoting its ecological development towards the river, the sea, and industrial clusters, and has entered a new stage of high-quality development. In recent years, Wuhu Shipyard’s “1+2+N” base strategic layout has been initially completed. The intelligent production line at the Weihai base is fully operational, and the European office is running efficiently, establishing a group development model that connects the river and the sea. The 12 Ultramax bulk carriers undertaken in this order will leverage Wuhu Shipyard’s advantages in the research and development of environmentally friendly ship types and intelligent manufacturing to create a series of green, intelligent bulk carrier products characterized by low energy consumption, advanced technology, and cost leadership, actively leading the global trend of green transformation in shipping.
Wuhu Shipyard is accelerating its transformation from a traditional ship manufacturer to a modern shipping ecosystem service provider. Its subsidiaries, including Anhui Haizhi Equipment Research Institute, Yingxing Financial Leasing, Sandianshui New Energy Technology, and Zhiyuan Supply Chain Company, collectively form a full industrial chain ecosystem covering R&D, manufacturing, finance, operation, and service.
Yingxing Financial Leasing, as the financial platform under Wuhu Shipyard, has achieved a leasing asset scale exceeding RMB 60 billion in just one and a half years since its establishment. It established a Hong Kong subsidiary in June 2025, laying out plans in global shipping centers such as Singapore and Europe, providing strong financial support for this cooperation.
Since its inception, Yingxing Financial Leasing has relied on its “dual circulation” linkage capability to build a high degree of connection between the industrial chain and the real economy, innovating through the integration of shipping industry chain resources. This cooperation constructs a trinity business model of “Shipping Operation + Shipbuilding + Financial Leasing,” deeply integrating Wah Kwong Maritime Transport’s global shipping network and operational experience, Wuhu Shipyard’s advanced manufacturing capabilities, and Yingxing Financial Leasing’s professional financial support. By securing low-energy-consumption, modern shipping capacity, the cooperation not only promotes the industry’s transformation towards green, low-carbon, and intelligent, efficient operations but also enhances overall risk resistance, helping all parties cope more calmly with market cycle fluctuations and jointly move towards a healthier and more sustainable development future.
Wah Kwong Maritime Transport was founded by Mr. T.Y. Chao, the “Ship King,” in the 1950s and is a pioneer and important founder of the Hong Kong shipping industry. Since its establishment, Wah Kwong Maritime Transport has specialized in ship investment and operational management, with its business covering various ship types including tankers, liquefied gas carriers, bulk carriers, and container ships. For over seventy years, Wah Kwong Maritime Transport has cumulatively built and delivered over 200 new ships in China, Japan, South Korea, and other locations, and manages a fleet of over 90 vessels. Wah Kwong not only enjoys a high reputation in the Hong Kong shipping community but also, as one of the first Hong Kong enterprises to support the development of China’s shipbuilding industry, established deep cooperation with mainland shipyards starting from the 1990s, promoting the improvement of China’s shipbuilding standards.
Excluding the latest order, data from Clarksons shows that, as of now, Wuhu Shipyard holds a total orderbook of 103 vessels totaling 3.37 million DWT, comprising 71 liquid cargo ships, 12 multi-purpose vessels, 10 bulk carriers, 5 offshore vessels, 3 container ships, and 2 other vessel types, with delivery schedules extending until 2029.
