FUZHOU, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Three Free Trade Zones (FTZ) in east China's Fujian Province have received approval for international ship registration services, according to Fujian Marine Safety Administration under the Ministry of Transport Saturday.
Following the approvals issued to Fuzhou, Xiamen and Pingtan ports there are now eight FTZs capable of registering vessel ownership.The other ports are in Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangdong.
Ship registration is the process by which a ship is given the nationality of the country to which it is registered, allowing vessels to travel internationally.
More than 663,000 ships sailed from or arrived at Fujian in 2016, of which 42,000 were international.
The move will attract more ships to be registered at Fujian FTZs, conducive to expanding the ship financing market and speeding up the development of ship service industry in Fujian.
