“In China, we believe the next decade will witness explosive growth, going from 2 million to 10 million cruise passengers by 2026. Some argue that this is conservative,” said Qiang Wu, chairman of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), speaking on Monday morning at China Cruise Shipping in Sanya.
“For now, two million passengers from China sail mainly to Korea and Japan. Looking forward, we have strong beliefs in the potential of the South China Sea,” Wu continued.
CSSC is involved in a joint venture with both Fincantieri and Carnival Corporation to build a pair of Vista-class ships for a Chinese domestic brand.
He said calling cruise-ship building an engineering nightmare would not be an overstatement, with complex design, hotel and technical needs.
Wu said China, which is the world’s largest shipbuilder, sees the ability to build cruise ships as the jewel on its shipbuilding crown.
“In China, we have major over-supply in the shipbuilding industry, but the capacity of cruise building is zero. We need to work harder to fill the gap,” Wu noted.
“We will focus on the domestic need for new ships,” he said. “We are focusing on the Asia-Pacific market. We pose no threat to our counterparts in Europe.”
While the existing joint venture has ship deliveries projected in 2023 and 2024, respectively, it also includes four options.
There is the potential for the first ship to be delivered earlier, in 2022, to coincide with 20th National Congress of the Communist Party, Wu said.
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The 2018 China Market Report by Cruise Industry News is the only resource covering the future trajectory of the Chinese and Asia-Pacific cruise industry, presenting the past, present and future in a concise 95-plus page PDF download.
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Cruise Industry News profiles all the major cruise lines operating in Asia, from Carnival Corporation to Royal Caribbean and local operators.
In addition, there are discussions with leading Chinese travel agents about the charter model and pricing trends, port news and updates from across the region, and a look at the fleet of ships in Asia through 2027.
There is also exclusive analysis and statistics of the Asia-Pacific market going back to 1998 and supply projections through 2027, in addition to a break-down of Asia-Pacific and China by operator and market capacity. Click here to learn more.
