Aiming at the green ship market worth tens of billions, state-owned assets in Hubei Province are joining hands.

The new fund mainly focuses on the green and intelligent ship and port - shipping industrial chain. In addition, it will also closely monitor cutting - edge fields such as artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence.

State - owned assets within Hubei Province have jointly launched a new fund with a new - energy battery enterprise.

Recently, Shouyi Fund Company, Zhijiang Jinrunyuan Group, and Chaowei Group signed an agreement for the Hubei Chaowei Green Ship Industry Fund. The total scale of this fund is 500 million yuan, jointly contributed by the above three parties.

A reporter from the Venture Capital Daily learned from Shouyi Fund Company that this fund will be managed by Shouyi Fund Company. Its investment direction mainly focuses on the green and intelligent ship and port - shipping industrial chain. In addition, it will also closely monitor cutting - edge fields such as artificial intelligence and embodied intelligence.

This new 500 - million - yuan fund has received support from state - owned assets under Wuhan and Yichang. Among them, Shouyi Fund Company, the fund manager, is the investment and capital - attracting platform for science and technology innovation industries in Wuchang District, managing the 5 - billion - yuan Shouyi Science and Technology Innovation Mother Fund. Zhijiang Jinrunyuan Group is wholly - owned by the State - owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of Zhijiang City (a county - level city under Yichang). According to data from Cailian Press Venture Capital Connect - Zhipartners, this group has never participated in the contribution of private equity funds before.

The only industrial party, Chaowei Group, is from Zhejiang. Its main businesses include lead (lithium) batteries, new - type batteries, electric vehicles (ships) and key components. Its subsidiary, Chaowei Power, has been listed in Hong Kong (as of the close on the 20th, its market value was 1.568 billion yuan).

According to its official introduction, Chaowei Group's total revenue in 2024 exceeded 130 billion yuan, and Chaowei Power's market share in the power battery field for two - wheeled vehicles and low - speed vehicles exceeded 40%.

The coming - together of the three parties is inseparable from their respective industrial layouts.

Wuchang District is adjacent to the Yangtze River. Within its jurisdiction, there are many ship design units such as the China Ship Development and Design Center, the 719th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, Wuhan University of Technology (Yujiatou Campus), Wuhan Yangtze River Ship Design Institute Co., Ltd., and Wuhan Jinding Ship Engineering Design Co., Ltd., as well as shipping units such as Hubei Yangtze River Ship Supply Chain Co., Ltd., CCCC Second Harbor Consultants Co., Ltd., and Wuhan Xinyusheng Crew Management Co., Ltd.

The reporter from the Venture Capital Daily learned that Wuchang District is striving to build an R & D and design cluster for green and intelligent ships. A special working group has been established in the district, with the secretary of the district Party committee personally serving as the group leader to coordinate and promote various tasks such as industrial planning, resource integration, and project implementation.

However, it should be noted that as a core urban area in Wuhan, Wuchang District has a shortage of industrial land resources, which often limits its industrial investment attraction. Previously, during the investment - attraction process, Wuchang District tended to attract headquarters or research - type departments.

Zhijiang just makes up for this shortcoming. Located on the north bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Zhijiang is the eastern gateway to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and the only plain county - level city in Yichang. It has rich shoreline resources and an industrial foundation. Currently, Zhijiang has become an important shipbuilding industrial base in the inland Yangtze River and one of the largest civil shipbuilding and repair production bases in Hubei Province, as well as an important base for the development of the green ship industry in Hubei. It has also cultivated a large number of experienced technical workers and management talents, forming a relatively complete shipbuilding industrial chain.

According to the fund's plan, the cooperation among Shouyi Fund Company, Chaowei Group, and Zhijiang this time will establish a cooperation model of "headquarters in Wuchang, production capacity in Zhijiang, and industrial support from Chaowei", which will promote the in - depth combination of Wuchang's scientific research and development resources, Zhijiang's production and manufacturing supporting advantages, and Chaowei Group's industrialization capabilities. By continuously attracting and incubating high - quality projects in the new - energy ship industrial chain, it will promote the clustered development of the new - energy ship industrial chain.

The green ships targeted by the three parties represent a market opportunity arising from the current iteration of the shipping industry. Research report data shows that the market scale of China's green ship industry reached tens of billions of yuan in 2024 and is expected to exceed 150 billion US dollars by 2030.

A relevant person in charge of Shouyi Fund previously stated that greening and intelligentization are two definite development trends in the ship industry. Currently, alternative - fuel ship types account for more than 40% of global new shipbuilding orders. The application of new zero - carbon power sources such as green methanol, green ammonia, and hydrogen will have an impact on the industry's development in five aspects: fuel production, storage and transportation, power systems, ship design and modification, and navigation operations.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Venture Capital Daily", author: Yu Shiqi. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.