China’s First Home-grown Cruise Liner to be Delivered in Five Years

Rendering of the first China-developed luxury cruise liner

The first China-developed luxury cruise liner will complete its design in 2016, start construction in 2017, and hopefully will be delivered by 2020, said its maker Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. on Wednesday.

Parent firm China State Shipbuilding Corporation along with the China Investment Corporation will set up a joint venture with 2.6 billion British pounds（around $3.89 billion） with America's Carnival Cruise Lines to purchase the vessel. And the Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri will provide technical support for the ship building.

The said cruise liner will be 300 meters in length, 140, 000 tonnes in weight, and 14-15 stories in height, with a capacity of 3000-4000 people. The design of this new ship will incorporate some traditional Chinese elements, according to China State Shipbuilding Corporation.

According to Chen Jun, vice manager of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., by the time the liner is delivered in 2020, it is expected that 4.5 million Chinese will be taking cruise vacations. China will then become one of the world's largest markets for cruise travel and need five new cruise ships a year to meet demand, he said.