The cruise business of major Chinese shipbuilder China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has signed an agreement on developing the cruise industry with the municipal government of Sanya, a resort city in south China's Hainan Province.

According to the agreement signed Sunday, the CSSC Cruise Technology Development Co. Ltd (CCTD) and the Sanya government will jointly increase the number of cruise routes and make full use of Hainan's offshore duty-free policy, sea water and island resources to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Six cruise routes will be opened to cash in on the rich cruise tourism resources in the South China Sea region. These routes include areas around the Hainan island and international destinations including those in the Belt and Road countries.

At the same time, the two sides will work together to enhance Sanya's cruise and yacht maintenance facilities by building a regional cruise support base.

CCTD is the subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation and was set up in 2016 for developing the Chinese cruise industry.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, CSSC's new shipbuilding orders in tonnes surged 34.2 percent from a year earlier to 5.35 million tonnes in the first half of the year. Enditem