BEIJING - Chinese shipbuilders in 2011 finished building more ships year-on-year, but the global economic slowdown halved their orders, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Friday.

China's shipbuilding industry relies heavily on overseas demand for growth, as 83.9 percent of ships built in China were exported last year, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

The amount of ships built in China last year rose 16.9 percent year-on-year to 76.65 million deadweight tons (DWT), of which, 21.41 million DWT were seagoing vessels.

New shipbuilding orders slumped 51.9 percent year-on-year to 36.22 million DWT, including 13.05 DWT of seagoing vessels, according to MIIT data.

Existing orders for Chinese ship manufacturers at the end of last year also declined by nearly a quarter from the previous year to 149.91 million DWT.