China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding has won orders for four 174,000-cbm LNG carriers worth more than $769m from Qatar Petroleum.

The newbuildings, to be delivered in 2024 and 2025, are the first to be ordered at a Chinese shipbuilder by the Qatari shipowner.

The company said it is paying more than QAR 2.8bn ($769m) for the four newbuildings.

Hudong-Zhonghua is the first shipyard to officially sign LNG newbuilding contracts with Qatar as part of its huge 150-vessel newbuilding plan.