China the World's Largest Navy?

Hey guys I was watch China Take on BON and they reported that according to the US International Institute for Strategic Studies. China's total ship tonnage is ranked number 3 in the world and is number 1 in individual ships.



I haven't found the US International Institute for Strategic Studies report to confirm their report yet.

ABC78 said:

Hey guys I was watch China Take on BON and they reported that according to the US International Institute for Strategic Studies. China's total ship tonnage is ranked number 3 in the world and is number 1 in individual ships.

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I haven't found the US International Institute for Strategic Studies report to confirm their report yet.

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... and that means absolutely nothing... or very little in terms of true power projection and capability. For them to be a true blue navy they need power projection in terms of CATOBAR type carriers, decent naval air power but they are definitely heading in the right direction. No doubt about that.

In terms of number of ships or in terms of tonnage .... I won't be surprised to know if China has highest.

We see that China produces 500-600 million tonnes of steel a year.

The next largest is Japan or US both around 100 million tonnes a year.

Heck, even India with a comparable population as China produces only 50 million tonnes of steel.



Now you just have to count where 500-600 million tonnes of steel goes .... of all places.

One way would be consume all that steel into building ships enmasse.

Where else ??




China doesn't produce five times the number of cars as US. Not five times the number of white goods.

That amount of steel has to go somewhere.

Biggest user would be construction ---> since China produces 2000 million tonnes of cement (second largest producer, India produces only about 400-500 million tonnes, with comparable population).

After construction .. the next biggest item consuming steel could very well by SHIPPING.

Not navy, but merchant marine.
Btw, what again railways and the bridges they need?

delft said:

railways and the bridges

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Railways looks like a far shot to me.... as far as consuming so much steel is concerned.

Chinese railways is less than half that of USA ... or about 10-20% more than that of India.

So, I'd be surprised if US railways could consume 1 million tonnes of steel.. and chinese railway (which is less than half) could consume 5 million (new railway line additions included).

If chinese railway were consuming more than 5 times US railway consumption in steel.... for the past 10 years ..... Chinese railway network should have been larger than US.

The factor of FIVE is critical ..... we are talking of a factor here..not a 10 or 20 percent difference.

Even if you think that China is adding rolling stock, lines at a 5 times factor, how can it still be less than half of US network (in railway length), and about 1:1 in terms of rolling stock.

Coming to Bridges ... (and more importantly Dams), that I would include in my definition of construction industry. Off course that is consuming a huge amount of cement and steel.

Only construction industry can account for that kind of a factor.

@bingo, the surge in railroad construction in China is relatively recent, but it is a major item. It's not only a matter of new routes, but of upgrading existing ones for higher speed, etc. The US, on the other hand is not building new tracks.

On railroads and new routes - the whole issue is enormous. Keep in mind China is connecting their rail system all the way to Turkey and Syria, and has investment in many countries to the rail infrastructure across Asia.

As far as SCO goes - railroads are perhaps the most important development of SCO, because it is a major infrastructure upgrade across Asia. Understand the single most important aspect of the railroad construction is that it standardizes rails - which btw cuts Russia out of the pie. As it is now, cargo has to actually be unloaded off one car and onto another car at various railroad stations in Russia because Russia doesn't use the same railroad tracks as China (and many other nations in Asia that have a standard rail system similar to the west.

It is a major transportation game changer in Asia - and something to watch. The transcontinental railroad of Asia is expected to be completed in early 2012.

2012 seems a bit early, but if it must be possible to travel by rail from London to Beijing in 2020 in 48 hours, as suggested by The Daily Telegraph, a serious British paper, it can not be too far out. That means about 350 km/h.
Iran is investing in standard gauge railways in Afghanistan, even before the US intervention has been defeated, and is preparing to move the break of gauge between itself and Pakistan to a town in that country. Pakistan is considereing converting its whole system to standard gauge and the Central Asian countries, and eventually perhaps also Russia, might well be doing the same in the next thirty years or so.
See also the wikipedia article on the Trans-Asian Railway. That is about cargo transport.
We are not talking here about using the sea, but this is very relevant to the economic development of all the Asian, and European, countries. The relative weight of the US is bound to decrease by the resulting economic integration of so many countries.