The order at China’s shipyards saw a fall of 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 which is also lagging behind in terms of production and delivery of the global orders.

India’s allies in the neighbourhood have decided to cut down on their purchase of defence equipment from China due to the slowdown in its shipbuilding sector which may incur the communist nation losses in millions of dollars.

The Economic Times has reported that Bangladesh, Malaysia and Thailand are thinking twice before buying equipment from China since the COVID-19 pandemic has left these nations without budget. Also, the pandemic has slowed down the shipbuilding sector of China which has put the defence cooperative agreements between these countries and China on tenterhooks.

According to the report, the order at China’s shipyards saw a fall of 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2020. China is lagging behind in terms of production and delivery of the global orders. The report has said that co-location of military design institutes with Wuchang Shipyard at Wuhan has directly affected naval projects also.

Amid this, China is likely to suffer losses of over 800 million Yuans from Bangladesh and Malaysia alone which are also planning to limit scope of cooperation due to budget constraints. The report also said that Thailand has put its plan to purchase two modified versions of Yuan Class (Toye 041) submarines on hold. The order was worth some 22 million Bhats from China.

Not only these countries, but China has also lost its international shipping contracts from Japan and South Korea, the report said. Apart from that, there are many countries which have cancelled their business visits to China and have banned Chinese nationals from their countries, the report said.

The ongoing crisis is likely to hamper China’s ambitious plans to strengthen its partnerships with the countries in Bay of Bengal and side-line India where the latter is the net security provider. China has been making attempts to challenge India’s position through investments in ports, supply of naval vessels and shipbuilding in parts of South and Southeast Asia, the report said.