The Chinese shipbuilding industry suffered sharp declines in new orders in 2011, as ship owners were reluctant to increase their fleet size amid global economic slowdown, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Jan 2.

New shipbuilding orders from January to November last year tumbled 47.3 percent year-on-year to 33.69 million deadweight tonnes (DWT), according to a report on the website of the NDRC, China's top economic planner.

New orders have been lower than the completed shipbuilding volume for 11 straight months for China's ship manufacturers, said the NDRC.

The NDRC data showed ships built in China in the first 11 months of 2011 added only 8.8 percent year-on-year to 61.77 million DWT, with incomplete orders falling 17.4 percent year-on-year to 162.7 million DWT by the end of November last year.

In the period, industrial output of China's large shipbuilders totaled 707.6 billion yuan (112.3 billion U.S. dollars), up 23 percent from a year ago.

Also, ship export growth slowed in the January-November period of last year, with ships delivered overseas amounting to 291.3 billion yuan, up 14.1 percent year-on-year. The growth rate was 3.1 percentage points lower than a year ago.