China aims to sail into the top league in ocean engineering by the end of 2020 as it continues to upgrade its technology, said Xin Guobin, vice director of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Although China still trails the United States, South Korea and Singapore in research, design and production efficiency, it intends to close the gap by upgrading its technology faster to be more competitive in the global ocean engineering equipment and advanced shipping market, Xin said. China aims to tap demand that is expected to reach US$170 billion by 2020 and US$260 billion by 2025, he added.

Ocean engineering is among the sectors to be developed under the Made in China 2025 — the country’s masterplan for upgrading. China aims to realize the plan by nurturing companies with core technologies and pushing forward innovation, Xin added.