China Merchants’ unit sets sight on reinforced ships for polar cruises, as Chinese tourists flock to sightseeing in Antarctica
- China Merchants Group has begun building a 5 billion yuan industry base in Haimen in Jiangsu province
- The shipbuilder last week delivered the first of 10 polar cruise ships for Sunstone Ships
China Merchants Group, one of the country’s most powerful state-owned conglomerates, has begun building a 5 billion yuan (US$703 million) industry base in Jiangsu province to support the manufacturing of cruise ships, part of Beijing’s efforts to grasp core technologies to catch up with global leaders.
China Merchants Industry Holdings, a unit of the conglomerate, plans to conduct research and development and establish a dockyard in Haimen, a coastal city 150 kilometres (93.2 miles) from Shanghai, to supply key parts for cruise ships.
Along with shipyards in the Haimen area, China Merchants envisions becoming a global powerhouse in building cruise ships, as it seeks to catch the rising wave of Chinese outbound tourists who are taking to cruise holidays.
“We have been relying on imported materials and technologies to build cruise vessels, but the next step we will take is to create a leading shipbuilding base worldwide with grasp of intelligent manufacturing technologies,” said Wang Cuijun, a deputy general manager of China Merchants Group.
The Haimen industry base and the shipyard, also under construction, are expected to start operation in 2022, covering a combined area of 650,000 square metres (7 million sq ft).
Shipbuilding is one of the 10 core technologies included in Beijing's “Made in China 2025" industrial strategy, an ambitious plan that will help the country catch up with global leaders in 10 key industrial sectors, including robotics, chips and new-energy vehicles that reflect China’s determinations to pursue global prowess in core technologies.
