China's hunger for natural gas has pushed its shipbuilding and energy industries to build more liquefied natural gas carriers and import terminals, to give the nation an edge over other countries.

"China will need more than 35 LNG carriers over the next two years to meet its surging demand for natural gas," said Bao Zhangjing, director of the China Shipbuilding Industry Research Center.

In 2012, the country consumed 147.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas and imported 42.5 billion cu m.