The future looks bright for the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), as the company gears up to enter the highly lucrative cruise liner market.

The Chinese company in fact is set to forge a partnership with Hong Kong with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri Cantieri Navali Italiana SpA wherein the two ship makers are expected to spend at least 25 billion yuan ($3.74 billion) to build five luxury cruise liners, China Daily reported.

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CSSC is expected to deliver its first luxury cruise liner - capable of carrying up to 5,000 passengers - by 2021.

According to CSSC,  it will have a 60 percent controlling stake in the joint venture, while their Italian counterpart will hold the remaining shares.

The China State Ship Building Corporation will mainly source its funds from an industrial development fund for cruise liners courtesy of five major Chinese banks, which include the Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and China Construction Bank.

Under the collaborative agreement, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co, a subsidiary of CSSR, will be tasked to build the liners.

Chen Gang, vice-president of Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, revealed that each of these ships will have a length exceeding 300 meters and a displacement of 133,500 tons.

Each ship will cost around 5 billion yuan to build.

A specialized department in the Shanghai shipyard has already been established and will start design work on the cruise ships, which are schedule to be completed by 2017.

 "The cruise liners built in China will highlight Chinese elements, with the guest rooms decorated in the style of either a traditional Beijing courtyard or an old-fashioned Shanghai residential room," Chen explained.

Fincantieri, the Italian partner of China State Ship Building Corporation, was founded in 1780 and is based in Trieste, Italy.

The company is capable of building all types of cruise liners and is one of the biggest cruise manufacturers in the world, having 21 shipyards in Asia, Europe, and North and South Americas.

Dong Liwan, a shipping industry professor at Shanghai Maritime University, pointed out that cruise ships are among the high-tech products that China's craftsmen still have to master.

"To date, Asian shipbuilders including Japan and South Korea are incapable of either designing or building cruise ships independently," Dong said.

However, with the soon to be established partnership between China State Ship Building Corporation and Fincantieri, this goal may just be within the horizon. 

TagsChina Shipbuilding, China Shipbuilding Industry, China State Shipbuilding Corporation