QINGDAO will set aside 1 billion yuan (US$153 million) to build a cruise liner terminal, the largest one in northern China, in its port.

    Construction has already started, according to the city’s cruise liner economic development plan.

    Currently the port has developed two cruise liner routes to South Korea and Japan, which are becoming increasingly popular.

    Qingdao received its first cruise liner in 1979 and since then, more than 100 cruise liners have docked here. In 2009, an Italian cruise liner company established a branch in Qingdao. Its American and Singaporean counterparts, two of the top three in the world, also visited the city in an attempt to set a branch.

    In May, Diamond Princess Cruise Ship, one of the world’s 15 most luxury cruise liners and the biggest cruise ship with the most comprehensive facilities, will visit Qingdao.

    To boost its international cruise liner tourism, the city will also construct two to three more terminals. The first one, 300 meters long and 50 meters wide, will be built at the Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center for two to three cruise ships to dock.

    (Jane Lai, Zhang Ying)