China Tourism Group to chart new course in bid to dominate Asia’s cruise market

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.