South Korean shipbuilders were overtaken by their Chinese rivals in the first half of the year, yielding their top position, industry data showed Friday. 

Data showed they also lagged behind Japan in June.

South Korean shipyards clinched new orders for 164 ships totaling 5.55 million compensated gross tons in the January-June period, down 29.5 percent from 230 ships totaling 7.87 million CGTs a year ago, according to the data by global market researcher Clarkson Research Services.

During the same period, their share of global ship orders fell to 27.1 percent from 31.8 percent.

In contrast, Chinese shipbuilders won orders for 481 ships amounting to 9.09 million CGTs, increasing their share to 44.4 percent from 39.9 percent. 

Japan used to dominate in global shipbuilding in the 1980s, but was overtaken by Korea in the ’90s. (Yonhap)