China's first domestically made large cruise ship, the Adora Magic City, carrying 3,023 tourists, embarks on its inaugural commercial voyage at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal on Jan 1. JI HAIXIN/FOR CHINA DAILY

After China's first domestically-made large cruise ship Adora Magic City completed six commercial voyages, the second China-built cruise vessel is about to enter its final assembly in the second quarter, according to official sources.

Since its inaugural voyage from the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Port on the first day of January this year, Adora Magic City has successfully completed six commercial trips carrying more than 18,000 passengers from 20 nations and regions as of Thursday (Jan 25), Sun Wei, deputy general manager of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), was quoted saying by local news portal ThePaper on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions Shanghai.

"The successful commercial operation of the Adora Magic City indicated China's cruise industry has formed a complete industrial chain covering design, construction and operation, and its operator, Adora Cruises, has become the first domestic company to operate large cruise vessels and built international competitiveness," said Sun.

The second China-made cruise ship started construction in August 2022, and so far has completed 77 percent workload of detailed design, and 58 percent of production design.

According to Sun, the new vessel is not a simple duplication of the Adora Magic City, but an upgraded version 17.4 meters longer than the first one. It will be 141,000-gross-tonnage, and has optimized interior layout and facilities.

The CSSC will continuously make efforts to enhance the second cruise ship's design, craftsmanship, construction and facilities to achieve higher quality, greater efficiency and lower cost, said Sun.