Aerial photo taken on April 9, 2022 shows a container ship by the Beijiang Port Area of Tianjin Port in north China's Tianjin Municipality. (Xinhua/Zhao Zishuo)

TIANJIN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- China State Shipbuilding Corporation has signed a cooperation agreement with France's CMA CGM Group to produce 16 large container vessels worth more than 21 billion yuan (about 3 billion U.S. dollars).

It sets a new record for a single order with the largest amount of money for container ship production signed by China's shipbuilding industry. It includes 12 15,000-TEU dual-fuel large container ships powered mainly by methanol and four 23,000-TEU ones fueled mainly by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Each of the methanol-powered ships measures 366 meters in length and 51 meters in width and is designed to have the ability to carry 156,000 tonnes of cargo, said the Chinese ship manufacturer.

It is also the Chinese group's first order to produce such methanol-fuelled container ships. Independently developed, the vessel can achieve net zero carbon emissions during its whole voyage.