Jiangnan Shipyard

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title: "Jiangnan Shipyard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["shipbuilding-companies-of-china", "manufacturing-companies-based-in-shanghai", "manufacturing-companies-established-in-1865", "firearm-manufacturers-of-china", "shipyards-of-china", "chinese-companies-established-in-1865"] description: "State-owned shipyard in Shanghai, China" topic_path: "geography/china" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiangnan_Shipyard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary State-owned shipyard in Shanghai, China ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd.
native_name	江南造船（集团）有限责任公司
logo	Jiangnan Shipyard logo.png
logo_size	290px
type	Subsidiary
foundation	, Qing dynasty
location	Shanghai, China
area_served	Worldwide
industry	Shipbuilding
parent	China State Shipbuilding Corporation
homepage
::

| name = Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd. | native_name = 江南造船（集团）有限责任公司 | logo = Jiangnan Shipyard logo.png | logo_size = 290px | type = Subsidiary | foundation = , Qing dynasty | location = Shanghai, China | key_people = | area_served = Worldwide | industry = Shipbuilding | products = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = | predecessor = | parent = China State Shipbuilding Corporation | owner = | subsid = | homepage =

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Gun_transportation_at_Jiangnan_Arsenal.jpg" caption="Gun transportation at Kiangnan Arsenal in [[Shanghai]], during the [[Self-Strengthening Movement]]."] ::

Jiangnan Shipyard () is a historic shipyard in Shanghai, China. The shipyard has been state-owned since its founding in 1865 and is now operated as Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd.

Before 2009, the company was south of central Shanghai at 2 Gaoxing Road (). In 2009, the shipyard was moved to Changxing Island, in the mouth of the Yangtze River to the north of urban Shanghai. ().

The shipyard builds, repairs and converts both civilian and military ships. Other activities include the manufacture of machinery and electrical equipment, pressure vessels and steel works for various land-based products.

History

Kiangnan Arsenal

The origins of the Jiangnan Shipyard lie in the Self-Strengthening Movement of the late 19th century in China, during the Qing Dynasty. The Self-Strengthening Movement (), c. 1861 – 1895, was a period of institutional reforms initiated in China during the late Qing dynasty following a series of military defeats and concessions to foreign powers. One of the projects in this campaign of modernisation was the establishment of defence industries, including the Kiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai in 1865 (the fourth year of the Tongzhi era). Plans for the arsenal were established under Zeng Guofan, who served as Viceroy of Liangjiang, although its actual establishment became the responsibilities of Li Hongzhang.

The Mandarin Chinese name of the Kiangnan Arsenal was the General Bureau of Machine Manufacture of Jiangnan (), or the Jiangnan (or Kiangnan) Machine Works for short. It was established to both manufacture firearms and also build naval vessels. The shipyard, plant and machinery were initially leased from Thomas Hunt and Company, an American firm within the concessions of Shanghai. Due to the influx of workers and the reluctance of the concession authorities to allow arms to be manufactured within their territory, the Chinese authorities purchased the plant and equipment and combined these with the existing assets of the old Suzhou and Anqing arsenals as well as new equipment purchased by Yung Wing in the United States to form the new Kiangnan Arsenal in 1865.

The Kiangnan Arsenal was the largest of the arsenals established during the Self-Strengthening Movement, and also the one with the largest budget—from 1869, its annual budget was more than 400,000 silver taels. A series of high officials, including Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong, served as its head, although Li Hongzhang served the longest term during the Qing Dynasty. Most of the senior technical staff were Westerners, such as the first chief engineer, American T. F. Falls, and prolific translator John Fryer.

During the Tongzhi era, the Arsenal was the largest weapons factory in East Asia. Among its other achievements were the first domestically produced steam boat (the Huiji) in 1868 and the first domestically produced steel in 1891.

As well as its manufacturing works, the Arsenal also comprised a language school, a translation house and a technical school. It became forerunner of school training for foreign service civil servants.

Kiangnan Shipyard

In 1905, the shipbuilding operations of the Kiangnan Arsenal were de-merged into the separate Kiangnan Shipyard. In the 1920s Kiangnan built six new river gunboats for the US Navy South China Patrol on the Yangtze River.

The remaining arms manufacturing arm of the Kiangnan Arsenal operated until its dissolution in 1937, at the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The shipyard was evacuated to Chongqing and re-established as the Chongqing Shipyard.

Large parts of the assets of both the Arsenal and the Shipyard were left behind in Shanghai to be occupied by Japanese forces during the war. During this period, the Japanese occupying forces absorbed the plant and equipment of the Arsenal into the Shipyard. This combination was not reversed after the surrender of Japan.

Jiangnan Shipyard after 1949

References

1. Kennedy, Thomas L. "The Kiangnan Arsenal in the Era of Reform 1895-1911." 近代史研究所集刊 3 _ 上 (1972): 269-346.
2. Bennett, Adrian Arthur. (1967). "John Fryer: The Introduction of Western Science and Technology into Nineteenth-Century China". Harvard East Asian Monographs.
3. Poag, Frederic. "The Open Door, Dollar Diplomacy, and the Self-Strengthening Movement: The Birth of American Idealist Imperialism in China, 1890-1912." (2018).
4. "China's First 10,000-Ton Ocean-Going Ship Dongfeng is Completed on Jan 8, 1968 (8 January 2020)". State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.
5. "China's ocean-going cargo ship Dongfeng delivered {{!}} Today in History {{!}} Fun Fact (31 December 2024)".
6. (30 Oct 2020). "CMA CGM's Second 23,000 TEU LNG Containership Delivered". Marinelink.
7. (27 July 2018). "World's largest container vessels under construction in Shanghai". [[People's Daily]].
8. (1 June 2020). "Ship owners already know the limitation of the Chinese shipyards". Hellenicshippingnews.

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