Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and China’s shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) have signed an agreement for the constitution of a joint venture aimed at developing and supporting the growth of the Chinese cruise industry.

Under the agreement, the joint venture will design and sell cruise ships intended and customized for the Chinese and Asian market.

These vessels will be built at one of CSSC’s shipyards, the SWS facility, on the basis of a technological platform licensed to the joint venture and to the SWS shipyard by Fincantieri, which will perform the activities within its competence through the joint venture.

The deal was signed in Shanghai by the CEO of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, the President of CSSC, Wu Qiang, and the Chairman of CSSC Cruise Technology Development and of the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding facility (SWS), Wang Qi.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Transport (MOT) the cruise market in China expanded in the last years, reaching 1 million passengers in 2015.

The growth potentials are estimated in 4.5 million passengers by 2020, projecting China to become the world’s second largest cruise market after the US, and in 8-10 million passengers by 2030 with a double-digit growth per year.