China's ship repair industry saw complete repair work on ships surge 7 percent year-on-year over the first three quarters of 2020, and the total number of ship repairs rise 47 percent on a yearly basis, according to the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry.

Most of the orders Chinese companies gained in 2020 were for regular maintenance, with desulfurization system restoration and ballast water system restoration among the more specialized requests, said Chen Minjun, vice-president of the Beijing-based association.

"Such services can be fairly costly," he said, adding minor or regular maintenance usually costs between $100,000 and $150,000, while more complex processes such as desulfurization system restoration generally cost several million dollars.

In addition to the booming ship repair and maintenance industry, China's shipbuilding industry saw increased output in 2020 while maintaining the world-leading position in terms of completion volume and new and holding orders, according to latest data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The nation's completion volume of ships rose by 4.9 percent year-on-year to 38.53 million deadweight tons last year, accounting for 43.1 percent of the world's total.