China’s first domestically built large cruise ship serves 250,000 passengers

Just over 10 months after having set off on its maiden voyage, China's first domestically built large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, has made 64 voyages and transported about 250,000 passengers, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.

The Adora Magic City, with more than 5,000 passengers aboard, returned to Shanghai on Monday, concluding its 64th voyage since its maiden voyage on January 1, 2024. As of Monday, the ship had carried 250,000 passengers, underlining a marked improvement in the ship's operation efficiency and popularity, the CCTV report said.

CCTV also reported that construction work has progressed smoothly on the second domestically built large cruise ship, with the ship already taking shape and an expected delivery date by the end of 2026. 

Xie Xie, a research fellow at the China Waterborne Transport Research Institute, told the Global Times on Monday that the cruise ship's average customer flow reached 3,900 persons per voyage.

Xie noted that the Chinese cruise market is expected to handle 9 million passengers a year by 2035 and it needs a total of 38 cruise ships in service.

Large cruise ships, often built by European shipyards, are considered one of the "three pearls of the crown of shipbuilding," with the other two being aircraft carriers and large liquefied natural gas vessels.

China's cruise ship industry could contribute 500 billion yuan ($71.24 billion) in output to the country's economy by 2035, the People's Daily reported in August 2023.