The first Chinese cruise ship to sail from Shanghai

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China's first large domestically built cruise ship has begun its maiden commercial voyage, a moment hailed by authorities keen to reduce the dominance of European shipbuilders in the cruise sector.

The 135,500-ton Adora Magic City, built by a joint venture between the China Shipbuilding Corporation and US-based Carnival Corporation, sailed on Monday from Shanghai to South Korea and Japan before returning seven days later.

With more than 20 restaurants and bars, indoor palm trees, a nearly 1,000-seat theater and a 2,000-square-meter shopping mall, the ship has 16 decks and can carry 5,246 passengers, according to CSSC's Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Company. Industry insiders previously said that more than 80 percent of tickets had been sold for its inaugural flight.

China's official Xinhua news agency called the ship a “crown jewel.” “The ability to build such ships embodies the industrial strength of any country,” Xinhua added.

Alexis Papathanasis, a professor of cruise tourism management at Hochschul University Bremerhaven in Germany, said that moment signals that “the capacity and ability to build huge cruise ships in China” is becoming a reality.

Brian King, a professor of tourism and hospitality at Texas A&M University, said it indicates “tangible evidence” of technological advancement coupled with China’s “broad and increasingly sophisticated” consumer travel market.

China's dominance in global shipbuilding — mostly container ships, bulk carriers and tankers — has been fueled by massive government subsidies, vast shipyards, low labor costs, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping's determination to move the country up the value chain amid trade tensions with the U.S. . . But a handful of European shipbuilders have a competitive advantage in niche markets such as cruise shipbuilding.

Four-fifths of cruise ships on order between 2024 and 2029 are being built by one of the major European shipbuilders: Fincantieri, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Meyer Werft or Meyer Turku, according to data compiled by Cruise Industry News, a trading company. Publishing.

Cruise ship manufacturing is viewed as more complex due to complex design and assembly and the need to ensure passenger comfort and safety. “China has many advantages in cruise ship construction. . . .[which]“These efforts typically involve government subsidies, and China is well-positioned to mobilize quickly and on a large scale,” King said.

Last year, China also launched for the first time a domestically made passenger jet, the C919, developed by state-owned COMAC. But both relied on Western suppliers for components: CSSC signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri to support the construction of Adora Magic City.

“It will take at least a decade for Chinese cruise operators to build up [their] “The fleet and service capability development to match the well-established Western fleet,” said Con Cao, senior director at consultancy Reddal.

Demand for cruises could also indicate a recovery in the Chinese tourism market. With only 40 million outbound trips in the first half of 2023, Chinese tourism has yet to recover to approach the level of 155 million trips in 2019.

In 2019, about 2 million Chinese tourists took a cruise, compared with 14 million people from the United States, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, an industry trade body. The number fell by more than 99 percent in 2022 in China.

Joel Katz, CLIA's managing director for Australia and Asia, expects a return to “pre-pandemic strength by 2025”. International cruises are also returning to China, including Royal Caribbean and MSC Cruises, said Cleo Liu, general manager of the cruise business of one of China's largest online travel agencies, Trip.com.

China has already begun construction of a second massive cruise ship. “Before the number of Chinese-made ships reaches a critical mass, Western cruises will still dominate in terms of carrying capacity,” said Cathy Hsu, a professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

CSSC and Adora Cruises did not respond to a request for comment on details of Adora Magic City's maiden voyage and plans to build cruise ships in China.