China's second homemade cruise ship completes hull assembly

China's second domestically built large cruise ship, named "Adora Flora City", completed its main hull assembly in Shanghai on Wednesday, marking a major leap forward in the country's shipbuilding capabilities.

The milestone, achieved in just nine months after the ship entered the dock of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd (SWS), comes more than two months earlier than China's first large cruise ship.

The vessel is scheduled for delivery in 2026.

"The second large cruise ship has currently achieved 54 percent overall project progress, with construction progress reaching 43 percent. The milestone of the hull assembly marks the complete conclusion of the structural assembly work and the transition to interior decoration and debugging preparation," said Chen Gang, chief designer and director of the project.

The hull of the ship measures 341 meters in length and 37.2 meters in width. Decoration involves the installation of walls, floors and furniture across its 2,144 rooms, all slated for completion this year.

"In 2025, we expect the second cruise ship to fully complete all interior outfitting work, with comprehensive system testing scheduled to begin in August. During the design and construction of the second ship, we have been focusing on improving construction efficiency. At the start of the project, we set the goal of carrying out research on construction processes and methods to improve efficiency. The aim is to reduce total construction hours by 20 percent and overall construction costs by 15 percent," said Chen.

China's first domestically-built large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, left a port in Shanghai on January 1, 2024 for its commercial maiden voyage, opening up a new chapter for the country's shipbuilding and cruise industries.

The Adora Magic City is 323.6 meters in length, has a gross weight of 135,500 tonnes and can accommodate up to 5,246 passengers across a total of 2,125 guest rooms.

China's second homemade cruise ship completes hull assembly

China's second homemade cruise ship completes hull assembly

Russia and China will continue to do everything possible to deepen their partnership and good-neighborliness in the interest of maintaining global stability, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday in a video address delivered ahead of his state visit to China.

In the address, the president said ties between Russia and China have reached a truly unprecedented level. Russia also hopes that the people of the two countries can enhance their interaction and mutual understanding, said Putin.

"I am confident that together we will continue to do everything possible to deepen Russia-China partnership and good-neighborliness for our two countries' dynamic development and for the well-being of our peoples, in the interests of maintaining global security and stability," he said.

Putin will pay a state visit to China from May 19 to 20 at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. This will be his 25th visit to China.

Russia, China to work together to deepen partnership and good-neighborliness: Putin