Travellers arrive at Tianjin International Cruise Home Port in Tianjin, north China, July 23, 2025. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

BEIJING, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- As marine tourism surges in popularity, China has reported that it saw an explosive cruise passenger throughput increase during the first half of 2025, official data showed on Friday.

The total cruise passenger throughput surged 40.1 percent year on year during the period, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. The ministry attributed the surge to supportive policies, improved supply and rising travel demand.

From January to June, the marine tourism sector generated an added value of 771.8 billion yuan (about 108 billion U.S. dollars), which was up 8 percent year on year.

With the peak summer travel season now underway, cruises and other areas of marine tourism are expected to rise to even greater popularity, the ministry said.