In contrast to the waning fortunes of the global yacht industry, the sector in China is enjoying increased output and consumption, which makes the nation one of the most important emerging markets for international yacht manufacturers and dealers.

According to the 2014 Chinese Yacht Industry Report released on Thursday by the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association, the output of the yacht manufacturing industry was worth almost 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) last year.

By the end of 2014, there were a total of 16,000 yachts of various kinds in China, among which nearly 4,000 are business recreational yachts, while remainder were sailing boats and speedboats.

By the end of June last year, the number of registered yacht manufacturing companies in China increased to 460, among which 80 are finished boat makers and the rest are spare parts manufacturers.

Yacht purchases in China increased to 3 billion yuan last year. The largest consumers of yachts are from the middle class. Boats priced between 500,000 yuan and 1 million yuan are the most popular.

At the same time, it is also expected that the number of yachts longer than 8 meters will reach 163,510 by the end of 2030. The compound average annual growth rate of the Chinese yacht industry will be around 30 percent over the next decade, while China is expected to become the largest Asian yacht market within the next five years.

The number of yacht clubs reached 149 in 2014, up 31.8 percent year-on-year. Among these clubs, 102 have built their own berths, an increase of 82 percent year-on-year. There were nearly 10,000 berths in China, but there were hardly any public yacht marinas by the end of last year, according to the report.

"Public marinas can meet the mooring demand of yachts shorter than 40 feet (12.19 meters). Public marinas serve smaller boats while clubs are aimed at high-end yachts. If local governments do not plan the shorelines and docklands at present, the lack of public marinas will become a bottleneck for developing the regional yacht economy," said Zheng Weihang, executive vice-president of the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association.

Hainan province, a hub for yacht lovers, started to plan last year for at least one public marina for each coastal city in the province.

As predicted by the China Cruise & Yacht Industry Association, sales of larger luxury boats will not pick up this year, while sales of smaller boats will maintain their growth momentum.

Luxury yachts refer to boats that are equipped with modern facilities and are longer than 24 meters.

In addition, the combination between yachting and finance will start to pick up this year. The process will speed up when the Chinese yacht market becomes more stable and the number of yachts continues to grow in the future, according to Long Huanyi, senior sales manager of the motor department of Scania (China) Sales Co Ltd.

shijing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 07/10/2015 page18)