Vessels stop at shipyards in Qidong, a county-level city of Nantong. [Photo/WeChat account: qidongfabu]

In the first quarter of 2026, Qidong companies in the offshore engineering and shipbuilding industry recorded 6.39 billion yuan ($940.26 million) in foreign trade — 2.3 times that of the previous year — accounting for 62 percent of Nantong's total. Imports reached 2.96 billion yuan, 2.7 times the figure from 2025, while exports stood at 3.43 billion yuan, double the figure from last year.

With 185 kilometers of coastline along the Yangtze River and the Yellow Sea, plus 45 square kilometers of port-side land, Qidong provides natural advantages to support the growth of the offshore engineering and shipbuilding industry.

Nantong is home to about a quarter of Jiangsu's offshore engineering companies, and Qidong alone accounts for half of Nantong's total. The sector has seen double-digit growth for three consecutive years.

In recent years, Qidong has been building on its location advantages to integrate into the national advanced manufacturing cluster for high-tech ships and offshore equipment in the Nantong-Taizhou-Yangzhou region. In the first quarter, 115 companies above the designated scale in the sector reported taxable sales of 12.19 billion yuan, a 23.1 percent year-on-year increase.

"Five of the top 10 foreign trade companies in Qidong are in this sector. Their current orders generally run through 2029," said Mao Xinkang, an official of Qidong Customs. He added that customs will continue to improve the port's business environment and make cross-border trade easier, helping Qidong build a 100-billion-yuan offshore engineering and shipbuilding cluster.