A little more than two years ago, China's first domestically built cruise ship began its inaugural voyage.

Since then, the world's largest shipbuilding country has formed a complete industrial and supply chain for cruise ships, ushering in a golden decade for China's cruise sector, according to industry experts and officials.

China's large cruise ship industry, a crown jewel of the overall shipbuilding sector, reached a new milestone as its second domestically built large cruise ship completed undocking, and agreements to build two more cruise vessels were inked on March 20, charting a clear roadmap for the country's cruise industry.

"These developments signal that China's cruise industry is booming and entering a golden age, supported by a complete industrial chain including local manufacturing and operations," said Zheng Weihang, executive vice-president and secretary-general of the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association.

"Compared with the first golden decade between 2008 and 2017, when China experienced rapid growth in scale as a cruise tourism market, the second golden decade involves fundamental changes, with a comprehensive industry taking shape and Chinese cruise ship operators catching up with their international peers," said Zheng.

Booming orders

The emergence of China's cruise industry traces back to the successful delivery of Adora Magic City, the nation's first domestically built cruise ship, which made China one of the few countries — including Italy, France, Germany and Finland — that could design and build a cruise ship.

"The delivery in November 2023 marked the start of China's cruise shipbuilding sector. The latest developments in building more large cruise vessels indicate the sector is entering a new era of high-quality development, which will ensure the cruise industry chain and supply chain make further progress at an accelerated pace," said Wang Guoqiang, general manager of China State Shipbuilding Corp.

"It took nearly four years for Adora Flora City, China's second domestically built large cruise ship, to reach the undocking stage since construction began in August 2022, and it remains on track to be delivered for operation by the end of this year," Wang said during the undocking ceremony on March 20 at its builder CSSC Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co Ltd.

Compared with its predecessor, Adora Flora City shortened its construction period in the dock by eight months, improved overall efficiency by more than 20 percent, and increased the proportion of domestic facilities by 5 percent, Wang added.

Known as a gigantic engineering project, this majestic and imposing steel structure contains hundreds of systems, more than 20,000 sets of key equipment, over 25 million components and parts, and more than 4,700 kilometers of cables.

Measuring 341 meters in length and 37.2 meters in width, the cruise ship is now more than 94 percent complete. The 141,900-gross-tonnage vessel can accommodate up to 5,232 passengers, with a total of 2,130 guest rooms.

Li Ming, CEO of China Cruises, a subsidiary of China Tourism Group, said Adora Flora City is not a simple duplication of Adora Magic City, as it incorporates elements of Lingnan culture from southern China.

According to Li, the ship is scheduled to begin regular operations by the end of 2026, with Guangzhou, Guangdong province, as its home port.