Technology Leads, Industry Restructures—Changhang Group Drives High-Quality Development of Water-Based Cultural Tourism

In the first half of this year, cruise ships in the Three Gorges section of the Yangtze River received approximately 570,000 tourists. The peak season was extended by 17 days compared to previous years, and high-quality, immersive, and green low-carbon water travel experiences have become the mainstream of consumption. Facing the trend of structural upgrades in the Yangtze River's water-based cultural tourism market, China Yangtze Shipping Group Co., Ltd. (referred to as Changhang Group), a subsidiary of China Merchants Group, has recently launched a series of key projects for green and intelligent cruise ships and boats. Through technological innovation and business model restructuring, the company aims to enhance the quality of the Yangtze River's cultural tourism industry and inject new momentum into the green and low-carbon development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Building a New Water-Based Cultural Tourism Corridor Connecting the River and the Sea

Promoting the protection of the Yangtze River and building an international golden tourism belt along the river are important measures for advancing the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt in the new era.

In line with national strategic directions and market evolution trends, Changhang Group has made multi-point deployments and focused efforts, achieving key progress in three major cultural tourism vessel projects under its umbrella: On June 25, construction began on the high-end customized cruise ship "New Yangtze No. 1," designed to adapt to the navigation conditions of the Three Gorges ship lift; on July 6, the world's first methanol single-fuel luxury river cruise ship "Yangtze No. 7" was launched; and on July 18, the country's first immersive smart art riverside cruise ship "Yangtze Star Glory" was launched. These three differentiated ship types are being advanced simultaneously, creating a new water-based cultural tourism platform covering the entire Yangtze River basin.

Leveraging the resource advantages of the entire Yangtze River basin, Changhang Group continues to improve a multi-tiered supply system of "mainline high-end cruise ships + urban riverside cruise ships + river-sea cruise hub linkage," promoting a shift in the Yangtze River's water-based cultural tourism from single-point operations to coordinated development across the entire region.

In the long-distance tourism sector along the Yangtze River's mainline, newly built vessels are precisely tailored to meet differentiated market demands. The "Yangtze No. 7," with a total length of 149.99 meters, focuses on the high-end vacation market across the entire Yangtze River basin. It adopts a new clean energy propulsion system, significantly enhancing the green operation level of mainline cruises and the quality of vacation services. The "New Yangtze No. 1," with a total length of 104.99 meters, is precisely designed to match the navigation dimensions of the Three Gorges ship lift. It can accommodate high-end customized travel, business conferences, official receptions, and other diverse scenarios, further enriching the supply of high-quality cultural tourism products in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

In the urban riverside cultural tourism sector, Changhang Group has introduced a new platform for urban "micro water tourism" consumption. The newly built Wuhan urban riverside cruise ship "Yangtze Star Glory" leads its class in technology and facilities. Once operational, it will become a comprehensive water-based cultural complex integrating immersive performances, leisure dining, and panoramic sightseeing. This will drive the riverside cruise ship industry to transition from sightseeing-oriented to immersive experiences, boosting the upgrade of Wuhan's riverside cultural tourism consumption.

Addressing the long-standing issues of segmented upstream and downstream operations and the disconnection between river and sea cultural tourism along the Yangtze River, Changhang Group leverages the river-sea hub advantages of its Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal. The company is fully promoting the bidirectional integration and regularized operation of Yangtze River inland cruises with the coastal international cruise system.

On July 8, Changhang Group launched the high-end inland cruise "Yangtze No. 3" Chongqing-Shanghai boutique route in Shanghai Baoshan. This route will achieve full connectivity from Chongqing to the Shanghai estuary in November this year, completing the docking of Yangtze River inland cruises with ocean-going international cruises at the Wusongkou Cruise Terminal. This will open up a new water-based cultural tourism corridor connecting the Yangtze River and the sea, significantly enhancing the regional connectivity and international openness of the Yangtze River International Golden Tourism Belt.

Deepening Independent Innovation and Industry Collaboration

For a long time, core power and power supply equipment for high-end inland cruises have been highly dependent on foreign sources, with insufficient adaptability to ship types. Leveraging its comprehensive industrial chain of ship research and development, equipment manufacturing, engineering construction, and market operations, Changhang Group continues to deepen independent innovation and industry collaboration, achieving independent control over core technologies and key equipment for high-end cultural tourism vessels.

The overall design of the three types of vessels in this project was led by the Wuhan Yangtze River Ship Design Institute, a subsidiary of Changhang Group. Addressing the safety management challenges of methanol-fueled ships, the research team overcame several key technical difficulties, including fuel refueling and storage, cabin ventilation, and vent control. While strictly adhering to maritime safety regulations, they scientifically optimized the spatial layout of the ships, balancing navigation safety, operational efficiency, and passenger experience. Additionally, the team integrated market demands into the ship research and development process, effectively addressing industry pain points such as the disconnection between traditional ship R&D and market operations and poor equipment adaptability. This provides a practical model for the integrated development of central state-owned enterprises in the domestic shipping industry, combining industry, academia, research, and application.

In terms of core power equipment, Changhang Electric, a subsidiary of Changhang Group, independently developed the marine power and drive systems for "Yangtze No. 7," including four 1250-kilowatt marine asynchronous generators and three 1000-kilowatt low-speed permanent magnet water-cooled direct-drive propulsion motors. The independently developed low-speed permanent magnet water-cooled direct-drive technology features low energy loss, minimal vibration, and stable operation. It serves as a key hardware support for green and intelligent ship certification, effectively demonstrating the adaptability and technical strength of domestically produced marine electrical equipment in the high-end inland cruise sector. This provides a localized solution for the green upgrade of inland shipping vessels.

Leveraging the industrial collaboration advantages of China Merchants Group, Changhang Group has established a closed-loop development model encompassing "R&D design—core equipment—engineering construction—cultural tourism operations." In the advancement of the two cruise ship projects, Changhang Group has implemented its independently developed design plans and core equipment through the high-end shipbuilding system of China Merchants Industry. This efficient collaboration between the operational and manufacturing ends not only ensures precise alignment between products and the market but also fully unleashes the synergistic effects of internal industrial linkages within the group.

Creating a Domestic Model for New Energy Ship Types

Currently, the transportation industry is accelerating the promotion and application of new energy and clean energy ships, with green and low-carbon standards becoming mandatory benchmarks and development directions for the iteration and upgrade of Yangtze River cultural tourism vessels.

The newly launched series of ship projects showcases technological breakthroughs in the green transformation of inland cultural tourism vessels. Among them, "Yangtze No. 7," as the world's first methanol single-fuel luxury inland cruise ship, achieves a methanol fuel substitution rate of over 90%, significantly reducing ship emissions of exhaust gases and wastewater. The new energy technology plan for this ship was included in the China Classification Society's "Domestic New Energy Ship Types 2026" and is the only luxury tourism ship on the Yangtze River mainline among the eight typical new energy ship plans nationwide. It provides a replicable and promotable technical model for clean energy substitution in large inland passenger ships.

Both "New Yangtze No. 1" and "Yangtze Star Glory" meet the industry's highest environmental standards. They are equipped with all-electric propulsion systems, modern intelligent navigation systems, zero-discharge water treatment systems, and ship-wide vibration and noise reduction technologies. These features enable low-energy consumption, low-noise, and zero-pollution navigation, protecting the Yangtze River's ecological environment while enhancing the water-based cultural tourism service experience. This achieves an organic integration of ecological protection, navigation safety, and cultural tourism quality.

Moving forward, Changhang Group will continue to align with national strategies, uphold the ecological protection red line of the Yangtze River, improve the green and intelligent ship system and the comprehensive water-based cultural tourism layout, deepen industry chain collaborative innovation, and enrich the supply of high-quality, green, and diversified Yangtze River water-based cultural tourism products. The company will continue to lead the green and low-carbon transformation of inland shipping, contributing the strength of central state-owned enterprises to the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the elevation of the Yangtze River International Golden Tourism Belt.