People's Republic of China Flag Vessels
7,208 vessels registered under the People's Republic of China flag
People's Republic of China Maritime Fleet Overview
People's Republic of China has 7,208 registered vessels tracked on MarineRadar. The fleet primarily consists of Cargo (565), Fishing (129), Tanker (104), Other (32) and Tug (30). Track all People's Republic of China-flagged ships with live AIS positions and real-time maritime data.
About the People's Republic of China Flag
Registry Authority
The People's Republic of China flag is administered by the China Maritime Safety Administration (China MSA) under the Ministry of Transport. China's national-flag fleet is one of the largest in the world by deadweight when combined with the Hong Kong SAR registry, with over 6,000 vessels under the mainland flag.
Why Ships Register in China
Mainland China registration is largely used by Chinese state-owned and state-affiliated owners moving cargoes of strategic interest — domestic coastal trade, government-procured energy and grain imports, and shipbuilding-finance-linked tonnage. Recent reforms have made the international "China Bonded" registries (such as Yangshan and Hainan FTZ) more competitive for offshore-controlled tonnage, but the bulk of the fleet remains owned by Chinese groups.
Notable Operators
COSCO Shipping, China Merchants Energy Shipping, ICBC Leasing, Bank of Communications Financial Leasing, and CMA CGM's COSCO partner fleets are the largest users of the flag, alongside many domestic coastal operators.
Trade Routes
Chinese-flagged ships dominate domestic coastal trade between Bohai Bay, the Yangtze delta, and the Pearl River delta, and operate strategic deep-sea routes carrying iron ore, coal, crude oil, and LNG to Chinese terminals from Australia, Brazil, the Middle East, Russia, and West Africa. A large share of China-flagged container tonnage runs intra-Asia and Asia–Europe services.
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