Chinese shipbuilders will have a mixed outlook by 2020 with only one-third of them making a successful transformation and another third facing closure or mergers, experts said.

Although the global shipbuilding industry has started to pick up since the beginning of the year, many of them are still finding it difficult to escape the industrial downturn. Even those with orders in hand are struggling to make a profit, said Zhang Shengkun, president of the Shanghai Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.

"I think one prediction is reliable: It says by 2020 only one-third of domestic shipbuilders will survive the industry downturn by making a successful transformation, with one-third either shutting down or merging with others, and with the remaining one-third going out," Zhang said on Monday.