Manufacturer catalog

Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard

Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard was a legacy Shanghai naval and commercial shipbuilding yard associated in public sources with People's Liberation Army Navy amphibious-ship construction. Open references use Shanghai Zhonghua, Zhonghua, and Zhonghua Shipbuilding labels for landing-ship production before and around the 2001 formation of Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding from Hudong Shipyard and Zhonghua Shipyard.

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The Shanghai Zhonghua name is most useful for older PLAN landing-ship records where sources identify a Shanghai Zhonghua or Zhonghua yard rather than the later Hudong-Zhonghua corporate name. GlobalSecurity describes the first Type 072 tank landing ship, Yuntaishan, as starting construction at Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard in 1976 and being delivered in 1978. SeaForces separately lists Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Shanghai among Type 072A/Yuting II producing yards and names several first-batch Type 072A hulls built by Zhonghua.

The yard's legacy also appears in the Type 073A/Yunshu medium landing ship batch. SeaForces lists all ten Type 073A/Yunshu hulls, pennant numbers 941 through 950, as Zhonghua-built ships commissioned in 2004, and the connected catalog record treats the Type 073 family as the main published system currently tied to Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard. For broader corporate context, China's defense-industry authority states that Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding was formed in 2001 by merging and reorganizing the former Hudong Shipyard and Zhonghua Shipyard under the CSSC industrial system.

Landing shipsTank landing shipsMedium landing shipsAmphibious warfare shipsLegacy Shanghai shipbuilding

Notable Systems

Type 073 / 073A / 073III landing ship, Medium landing ship family, Naval Systems

Type 073 / 073A / 073III landing ship

Medium landing ship family

SeaForces lists the ten Type 073A/Yunshu medium landing ships commissioned in 2004 with Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Shanghai as the manufacturer.

Sources: SeaForces Type 073A Yunshu class
Type 072 / 072A / 072B / 072II / 072III landing ship, Tank landing ship family, Naval Systems

Type 072 / 072A / 072B / 072II / 072III landing ship

Tank landing ship family

GlobalSecurity places the first Type 072 hull at Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard, while SeaForces lists Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Shanghai among Type 072A/Yuting II producing yards.

Sources: GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN, SeaForces Type 072A Yuting II class

Manufacturer History

  1. Zhonghua shipbuilding lineage begins

    Public historical references trace the Zhonghua yard lineage to a Shanghai shipbuilding enterprise founded in 1926, establishing the predecessor line later associated with Zhonghua Shipyard.

    Sources: Hudong-Zhonghua shipbuilding history

  2. First Type 072 hull starts construction

    GlobalSecurity reports that the first Type 072 tank landing ship, Yuntaishan, started construction at Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard in 1976 before delivery to the East Sea Fleet in 1978.

    Sources: GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLAN

  3. Zhonghua merged into Hudong-Zhonghua

    China's defense-industry authority states that Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding was formed through the 2001 merger and reorganization of the former Hudong Shipyard and Zhonghua Shipyard.

    Sources: SASTIND Hudong-Zhonghua profile, China - Hudong Shipyard

  4. Type 073A/Yunshu batch commissions

    SeaForces lists ten Type 073A/Yunshu medium landing ships, pennant numbers 941 through 950, as Zhonghua-built ships commissioned in 2004.

    Sources: SeaForces Type 073A Yunshu class

Successors
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding
Website links
Hudong-Zhonghua official websiteSASTIND Hudong-Zhonghua profileSeaForces Type 073A/Yunshu class

Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard is treated as a legacy Shanghai manufacturer name within the Zhonghua/Hudong-Zhonghua shipbuilding lineage. Public sources usually identify naval landing-ship work at shipyard or hull-list level, so this profile cites those attributions only for manufacturer and platform context. The shorter Zhonghua Shipyard label has a separate published profile and is intentionally not duplicated here as an alias.

Manufacturer Sources

  • SASTIND Hudong-Zhonghua profilePublisher: State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense | Note: Supports the 2001 formation of Hudong-Zhonghua from the former Hudong Shipyard and Zhonghua Shipyard, its CSSC relationship, and its role as an important military-vessel production base. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • China - Hudong ShipyardPublisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Supports the Shanghai shipyard merger context, Hudong-Zhonghua industrial structure, CSSC relationship, and broader naval and commercial shipbuilding scope. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • GlobalSecurity Amphibious Warfare Ships - PLANPublisher: GlobalSecurity.org | Note: Supports the Type 072 landing-ship timeline, including construction of the first hull at Shanghai Zhonghua Shipyard and delivery to the East Sea Fleet in 1978. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • SeaForces Type 072A Yuting II classPublisher: SeaForces.org | Note: Supports Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Shanghai as a Type 072A/Yuting II manufacturer and identifies several Zhonghua-built first-batch hulls. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • SeaForces Type 073A Yunshu classPublisher: SeaForces.org | Note: Supports Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Shanghai as the Type 073A/Yunshu manufacturer, the 2004 hull list, and landing-ship specifications. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Hudong-Zhonghua shipbuilding historyPublisher: Wikipedia | Note: Secondary historical reference used only for the Zhonghua predecessor-line founding year and legacy-name context; higher-authority sources support the corporate merger and naval attributions. | Accessed: 2026-07-11
  • Wikimedia Commons File: Two China PLA navy 073A landing ship.jpgPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and reuse status for the Type 073A landing ship image used on the manufacturer page. | Accessed: 2026-07-11

Produced weapons

Category

Naval Systems

Warships, submarines, unmanned surface vessels, naval craft, and maritime combat systems.

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Type 073 / 073A / 073III landing ship, Medium landing ship family, Naval SystemsSouth China Sea DisputesType 073 / 073A / 073III landing shipMedium landing ship familyBuilt in: ChinaThe Type 073 family is a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy medium landing ship line that spans the original 1960s Type 073, limited Type 073II/Yudao and Type 073III/Yudeng follow-ons, and the later Type 073A/Yunshu production class. Its most operationally relevant member is the Type 073A, a roughly 87 m LSM class used for amphibious lift, vehicle movement, and near-seas logistics; AMTI/CSIS imagery documented one at Mischief Reef during China's Spratly outpost deployments.
Type 072 / 072A / 072B / 072II / 072III landing ship, Tank landing ship family, Naval SystemsType 072 / 072A / 072B / 072II / 072III landing shipTank landing ship familyBuilt in: ChinaThe Type 072 family is a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy tank landing ship line used for beachable amphibious lift, vehicle transport, and near-seas logistics. It evolved from the original 1970s Type 072 into Type 072II, Type 072III, Type 072A, and Type 072B batches, with later ships adding stern access, helicopter-deck facilities, improved armament, and larger vehicle/troop loads while remaining simpler than China's Type 071 dock landing ships and Type 075 landing helicopter docks.