Storyline: Chinese shipyards ramp up LNG carrier deliveries [Voice_over] To meet rising global demand for LNG carriers, Chinese shipbuilders are scaling up production to unprecedented levels, with some expecting record-high deliveries this year. At a shipyard in Shanghai, construction is underway for multiple LNG tankers, at the same time. Company officials say their annual deliveries for these kinds of vessels are hitting an all-time high, thanks in part to technological breakthroughs that’ve cut the average shipbuilding time from 30 months to just 15. [Sound_bite] Weng Zhenyong, vice director, development and research institute, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd.: "This year, we expect to deliver more than 10 LNG carriers. At present, we have around 60 LNG carrier orders on hand, totaling some 20 billion U.S. dollars. This includes 24 ultra-large LNG carriers with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters. Our schedule is fully booked until 2031." [Voice_over] And in building LNG carriers, those in the industry point out that more than 80 percent of the materials and parts used by Chinese shipbuilders are now domestically produced. [Sound_bite] Liu Weidong, chief technology officer, Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd.: "We have achieved domestic substitution for key bulk materials, such as steel, welding materials and pipes, covering the whole industrial chain from raw material procurement to the production of prefabricated components." [Voice_over] According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's shipbuilding sector has topped the world for 15 straight years in terms of completed shipbuilding volume, new orders, and orders on hand. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]