China has announced plans to consolidate the cruise operations of four central state-owned enterprises into a single entity that will reportedly operate the largest fleet in Asia, as part of a broader efficiency drive.
China Tourism Group – one of the four companies – was designated as the operator of the venture at a signing ceremony hosted by China’s state-owned enterprises watchdog on Friday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
After the deal goes through, the venture will operate Asia’s largest cruise fleet, CCTV reported on Saturday, without disclosing its exact scale.
Huaxia International Cruise – a joint venture set up by several state-owned enterprises, with China Tourism Group as the largest shareholder – will “nominally” control the four companies’ cruise operations, Chinese media outlet Caixin reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
In practice, however, each cruise brand under the four enterprises – namely, China Tourism Group, China Cosco Shipping, China Merchants Group and China State Shipbuilding Corporation – will continue to operate independently, according to Caixin.
The four companies currently have a total of five cruise ships that can together carry more than 16,000 passengers, meaning that Huaxia will surpass Japan’s NYK Cruises to become Asia’s largest cruise operator by capacity, Caixin reported.
The fleet will include China’s first domestically built large cruise liner, Adora Magic City, the report said. A second home-made vessel, Adora Flora City, is due to enter service next year.
China has ambitions to grow its cruise industry as part of an effort to boost domestic consumption and rebalance its economy.
Beijing has introduced a string of targeted measures to support the industry in recent years, including a visa-free entry scheme for foreign tourists arriving at domestic ports via cruise ship that was rolled out last year.
Chinese ports handled 376 cruise ship calls and 2.05 million cruise passenger visits during the first three quarters of 2025, up 28 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to a report by the Shanghai International Cruise Business Institute released earlier this month.
The signing ceremony on Friday, hosted by China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, featured consolidation deals involving 17 state-owned enterprises across a range of sectors, including advanced materials, artificial intelligence and logistics.
The integration effort aims to boost the long-term development of China’s state-owned enterprises by merging similar businesses, eliminating redundant capacity and boosting overall efficiency, the commission said. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
