China's first 180,000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas carrier, independently designed and constructed by domestic enterprises, was completed on Wednesday in Nantong, Jiangsu province, marking a new achievement for China in the field of high value-added shipbuilding, China Central Television reported.

The carrier, built by the China Merchants Heavy Industry Haimen Base, has an overall length of 298.8 meters and a molded breadth of 48 meters. Adopting a low-speed dual-fuel propulsion system, it boasts advantages such as a low boil-off rate and high environmental protection performance. The vessel represents a breakthrough for Chinese shipbuilders in the construction of large clean energy ships, and is also the largest LNG carrier ever built and completed in China, CCTV reported.

LNG carriers are specialized vessels designed to transport liquefied natural gas at an ultra-low temperature of -163 C. Regarded as the "crown jewel of the shipbuilding industry" due to their extreme design and construction complexity, only a handful of shipyards worldwide possess the ability to build such vessels. With the delivery of this ship, China now has five shipyards capable of delivering LNG carriers.