Protecting Shipbuilding Technologies: The Risks of Chinese Economic Espionage

A strategic global sector is under threat.

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Protecting Shipbuilding Technologies: The Risk of Chinese Economic Espionage

Earlier this week, the U.S. Trade Representative released a report highlighting China’s use of forced technology transfers and industrial espionage to dominate the global maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors. The report comes at a time when shipbuilding is undergoing a technological revolution, with cutting-edge innovations transforming the entire industry ecosystem. From advanced robotics to AI-powered navigation to green fuel technologies, shipbuilders worldwide are continuously finding new ways to make ships more efficient and sustainable.

In this highly competitive field, China has emerged as a major player, aiming to capture 50% of the global market share of high-technology ships by 2025. But the USTR’s allegations of Chinese intellectual property theft in the industry is likely to encourage lawmakers to crack down on technology leaks to China, not just in the United States, but in the world’s technological shipbuilding leaders, Japan and South Korea. Whether these countries succeed in stemming the outflow of trade secrets will determine who will dominate the manufacturing of the next generation of ships.

This post will explain the latest technological trends in the shipbuilding sector, what’s at risk from Chinese state-sponsored industrial espionage, and what can be done to prevent it. It is broken down as follows:

1. Current Trends and Emerging Tech in the Shipbuilding Industry

2. The Rise of Chinese Shipbuilding

3. Espionage Threats to Shipbuilding Tech

4. Case Studies

5. Why This Matters

6. What Companies and Governments Should Do

Let’s get started.