The 8th China International Cruise Shipbuilding Forum & Exhibition was held with great fanfare at the Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai on June 29, 2026. Guided by The Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (CSNAME), the forum was jointly hosted by the Cruise & Yacht Committee of CSNAME and Shanghai Services Federation, with strong support from Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd., COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Shipyard International Co., Ltd., and China Telecom Shanghai Branch. The opening ceremony was attended by and featured speeches from leaders including Mr. Li Qian, Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Hongkou District Committee; Ms. Zhou Ying, Level II Inspector of Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission; Mr. Sun Jianping, President of Shanghai Services Federation; and Mr. Ma Ming, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of China Telecom Shanghai Branch. During the ceremony, Shanghai Services Federation conferred the title of Chief Expert of Shipping and Cruise Economic Services upon Prof. Yu Shicheng, former Party Secretary and President of Shanghai Maritime University. The ceremony also marked the launch of the recommended publications Frontier Report on the China Cruise (Passenger) Shipbuilding Industry and Directory of China-Made Cruise Supporting Products. Distinguished guests including Mr. Cheng Meng, Level II Inspector of Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Mr. Sun Weiguo, former Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Hongkou District Committee and Honorary Director of the Shipping and Cruise Economic Services Committee of Shanghai Services Federation, and Mr. Jian Danian, Vice President of Shanghai Services Federation, were in attendance. The event was presided over by Mr. Lu Qingdong, Vice President of Shanghai Services Federation and Director of its Shipping and Cruise Economic Services Committee.

Themed "Pooling Strengths in Domestic Cruise Supply Chain, Empowering Independent Shipbuilding with Digital Intelligence," this forum gathered nearly 300 representatives from renowned domestic and international cruise shipbuilding enterprises, experts, scholars, and industry elites. Participants included shipyards such as China State Shipbuilding Corporation's Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Guangzhou Shipyard International, Beihai Shipbuilding, China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, Huarun Dadong, and Chongqing Jinlong Shipbuilding, as well as German shipyard Meyer Werft; cruise companies and shipowners including Adora Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, StarCruises (Dream Cruises), Oriental Cruise, Yangtze River Shipping, Damei Yangtze Three Gorges Cruise, and Star Glory International; research institutes and industry organizations such as Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute, the 704 Research Institute of CSSC (SMERI), CSSC Cruise Technology, China Merchants Cruise Research Institute, Wuhan Changjiang Ship Design Institute, Shanghai Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and Shanghai International Cruise Economy Research Center; classification societies and inspection bodies including CCS, Lloyd's Register, RINA, DNV, Bureau Veritas, ABS, and SGS of Switzerland; well-known cruise supply chain enterprises such as China Telecom, CATL, R&M Group, Tillberg Design of Sweden, Jiangsu Tie Mao, Haixing Maritime, Zhongke Xingye, and Bonder Technology; and university representatives from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University of Technology, South China University of Technology, Shanghai Maritime University, and Shanghai University of Engineering Science. The forum featured six specialized sessions: keynote speeches, cruise shipbuilding & repair session, cruise design session, international classification societies session, river cruise & passenger ship session, and cruise shipbuilding supply chain session. Renowned domestic and international experts, scholars, and industry leaders delivered keynote speeches on topics such as accelerating the establishment of China's independent cruise shipbuilding and supply chain system, sharing valuable experience and unique insights into the cruise shipbuilding and repair field. Through vivid case studies and in-depth industry insights, the experts charted the course for the future development of China's cruise shipbuilding industry and provided invaluable intellectual support for the industry's sustained and healthy growth. Concurrent events included a B2B Procurement Matchmaking Session for China-made cruise supporting products, a Special Training on Classification Society Certification for China-made cruise supporting products, and an Exhibition of Achievements in China-made cruise supporting products.

In recent years, China's cruise shipbuilding industry has gained increasing attention, with national ministries and commissions successively issuing documents to support the independent design and construction of cruise ships and the development of supporting industrial chains. China has now become an important participant and key driver in the global cruise market. Since its successful maiden voyage, China's first domestically built large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, has completed over 200 commercial voyages and carried more than 700,000 domestic and international passengers. The second domestically built large cruise ship, the Adora Flora City, is scheduled for delivery on November 6, 2026, and will embark on its maiden voyage from the Guangzhou Nansha International Cruise Home Port, marking a new leap from the "breakthrough of the first vessel" to the "serial construction" of large cruise ships in China. The China International Cruise Shipbuilding Forum & Exhibition has been successfully held for eight sessions. As the only professional cruise shipbuilding forum in Asia, it is a key initiative under Shanghai's full cruise industry chain deployment. The event focuses on cruise shipbuilding and its supporting industrial chains, providing a face-to-face, comprehensive, and multi-level platform for exchange and cooperation among upstream and downstream enterprises along the cruise industry chain.

Lu Qingdong, Vice Chairman of Shanghai Services Federation,Director of Shipping & Cruise Economic Services Committee, Shanghai Services Federation (SSF) moderated the Opening Ceremony

Zhou Ying,Second-level Inspector,Shanghai Municipal Transport Commission

Ma Ming,Party Committee Deputy Secretary & Vice President,China Telecom Corporation Limited Shanghai Branch; Deputy Director of the Cruise & Yacht Branch of the Chinese Society of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering

Sun Jianping,Chairman of Shanghai Services Federation

Li Qian,Chief of the CPC Hongkou District Committee of Shanghai

Launching Ceremony

Cheng Juehao,Secretary General of Council of Asia Cruise Academy,Vice Chairman,China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association

Sun Weiguo, Former Secretary of Shanghai Hongkou District Party Committee , Honorary Director of Cruise Economic Services Committee, Shanghai Services Federation (SSF) moderated the Keynote Speech

Li Jianing,Assistant General Manager of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.(SWS),,CSSC

Tian Zhengjun,Deputy Chief Engineer of China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd.,General Manager of China Merchants Shipbuilding Industrial Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Duan Wenjin,Senior Chief Designer, Guangzhou Shipyard International Co., Ltd.

Xie Xie,Chief Research Fellow of Cruise & Yacht Development,Waterborne Transportation Research Institute of the Ministry of Transport

Cruise Ship Supporting Products Procurement Needs Release Conference

Yu Dongliang,Deputy Director, Purchasing Department,Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. (SWS), CSSC

Chen Yongming, Assistant Manager of the Purchasing Department, China Merchants Cruise Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Cheng Juehao,Secretary General of Council of Asia Cruise Academy,Vice Chairman of China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association moderated the Cruise Ship Construction & Maintenance Session

Wang Shuofeng, Deputy Chief Engineer, Shanghai Marine Equipment Research Institute (SMERI), (CSSC)

Zhang Yuting,Deputy Manager Commercial Dept.,COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) Co.,Ltd.

Robert Zhang, Vice President of Sales China, R&M Group

Xu Haifeng, Group Chief Structural Engineer and Chief Engineer of the Cruise Division, Shanghai Building Decoration Engineering Group Co., Ltd.