Why did Liu Qiangdong spend 20 billion yuan in a month, and why did he choose these three cities?

Ask AI · How does Liu Qiangdong’s Tanhai Map achieve industrial collaboration through three-city division of labor?

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Chen Siqi

One month, three cities, two hundred billion — Liu Qiangdong’s “Tanhai” map is rapidly expanding from the Greater Bay Area to the Bohai Rim.

On February 24th, JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong signed cooperation agreements with Zhuhai and Shenzhen respectively, establishing the headquarters in Qianhai, Shenzhen, and a manufacturing base in Zhuhai, with an investment of 5 billion yuan.

In just a month, “Tanhai” has moved northward. On March 25th, the yacht manufacturing base and yacht operation project in Tanhai signed contracts to settle in Dalian, with an investment of up to 15 billion yuan.

“Our family has been living on ships for over 100 years. I have a special affection for ships. Becoming a ship captain was my childhood dream,” Liu Qiangdong once said about his original intention.

But obviously, spending 20 billion yuan on this dream is about much more than sentimentality.

Yachts are considered the last and highest-end “blank field” in China’s major industrial categories, with over 90% of the global market share held by Europe and America. As the global yacht industry accelerates its green and intelligent transformation, China’s middle-class population continues to grow. In Liu Qiangdong’s vision, “Tanhai” not only aims at high-end markets but also leverages domestic “three-electric” supply chain advantages to promote yachts in the 100k-yuan price range.

The three locations he selected span over 2,000 kilometers, each with different industrial bases and market potentials. How will they divide tasks and collaborate? Can this heavily funded “Tanhai” dream carve out its own path in the global waters dominated by European and American brands?

Image source: Sea Expandary official website

“Super Yacht” built in Dalian

On February 24th, when “Tanhai” was first unveiled, Liu Qiangdong revealed to the media that he had received orders for five “large yachts,” specifically 72-meter twin-hulled ships, each costing an average of 60 million euros.

What does 72 meters mean?

Last September, Tianjin Binhai New Area’s “Yacht Leisure Tourism Industry Development Plan (Draft for Comments)” defined “large yachts” as 18-24 meters, with “super yachts” above 24 meters. The largest steel-hulled yacht in China, “Atlantis,” which settled in Sanya at the end of last year, is 52 meters long.

From this, it’s clear that Liu Qiangdong’s “large yachts” already fall into the “super yacht” category. Converted into RMB, each costs nearly 500 million yuan, with total orders approaching 2.4 billion yuan.

Image source: “Binhai New Area Yacht Leisure Tourism Industry Development Plan (Draft for Comments)”

This explains why “Tanhai” is investing 15 billion yuan to establish a manufacturing base and yacht operation project in Dalian.

Compared to many other coastal cities in China, Dalian boasts state-owned enterprise presence and a solid shipbuilding industry foundation. China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s Dalian shipyard, COSCO Shipping, Hengli Heavy Industry, and Kawasaki Shipbuilding are all large assembly companies with order schedules extending to 2029. In 2024, Dalian’s ship and offshore equipment industry will generate about 62 billion yuan in output value, a 12.7% increase year-on-year, with an annual construction capacity of 12 million deadweight tons, ranking among the top nationwide.

Hu Zhenyu, deputy director of the Qianhai branch of the China Development Research Institute (Shenzhen) and director of the Institute of Sustainable Development and Marine Economy, told reporters that building yachts is different from building cargo ships—it’s a higher-end, more specialized field. But the customized production of large and super yachts requires extremely high standards for ports, dry docks, and heavy industry experience.

Industry insiders often say, “The size of the ships in the world is limited by the size of the docks at Dalian Port.” Dalian’s giant dry docks, deep-water berths, and experience in heavy ship engineering give it an early advantage in yacht manufacturing.

According to the Liaoning provincial government website, Tanhai will build a “customized high-end yacht production line” in Dalian, mainly engaged in R&D, design, and manufacturing of large yachts and accessories, integrating cutting-edge technologies such as new energy power and intelligent driving. This not only activates Dalian’s strengths in marine manufacturing but also adds elements of “green” and “intelligent,” accelerating the transformation of its century-old shipbuilding legacy toward “innovation-driven” development.

Dalian’s assets are not limited to ship docks. As a leading port for opening up in Northeast China and an important outbound gateway, Dalian has 30.1k square kilometers of sea area, 2,211 kilometers of coastline, and 538 islands. Its marine tourism resources are abundant, with the highest yacht ownership nationwide—over 1,800 registered yachts.

Tanhai’s layout also extends to operations—running yacht city reception halls and comprehensive service hubs in Dalian, creating a yacht service hub. It is reported that both parties will leverage this signing to jointly upgrade yacht industry technology, develop new scenarios, strengthen industry support, cultivate new consumption scenes, and promote deep integration of culture, tourism, sports, and commerce.

High-end manufacturing combined with high-end consumption connects this 15 billion yuan investment to a “vast wealth.”

“Next Car” built in the Bay Area

Customized high-end market is just the beginning.

“I hope to eventually produce yachts costing 100k yuan, so that ordinary workers can afford them,” Liu Qiangdong’s ultimate vision is to make yachts a daily consumer product, accessible to ordinary families.

“Just like cars transitioning from fuel to new energy, and then to smart connectivity, green and intelligent transformation are key directions for the yacht industry,” Hu Zhenyu analyzed. Traditional yachts have long been plagued by high fuel consumption, high emissions, noise, and high maintenance costs—the “oil monsters.” Small and medium fuel-powered yachts often cost hundreds to thousands of yuan per hour to operate, and large yachts are major waterborne fuel consumers. Not only are the entry barriers high, but they also conflict with global trends toward carbon neutrality and stricter maritime environmental standards.

In Liu Qiangdong’s plan, all Tanhai yachts will adopt new energy and fully automated systems. Nationwide, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, especially Shenzhen, has a highly mature supply chain for power batteries, motors, and controllers, with “three-electric” capabilities extending from land and air to sea.

For example, BYD Energy Storage has reached a strategic cooperation with Italian yacht giant Sanlorenzo to develop lithium iron phosphate batteries suitable for yachts; Inovance Technology’s solutions are already applied in ship power propulsion, shaft generators, wind power installation platforms, offshore floating cranes, and inland electric ships.

Image source: Sea Expandary official website

Therefore, Tanhai Yacht’s headquarters chose Shenzhen. According to the Shenzhen Marine Development Bureau, Tanhai will focus on yacht R&D, sales, supply chain management, display, and cultural tourism development, especially in categories like smart yachts and electric yachts. It will leverage Shenzhen’s industrial chain advantages to expand "lithium + " applications and improve yacht R&D and design levels.

Meanwhile, as yachts become more accessible to the public, their sizes will tend toward small and medium, better suited for family outings and weekend leisure.

Both Dalian and Zhuhai are also building manufacturing bases, with Zhuhai playing a complementary role to Dalian. According to an agreement signed between Zhuhai Municipal Government and Zhuhai Tanhai Yacht Technology Co., Ltd., Tanhai will focus on constructing a modern, intelligent high-end yacht manufacturing base in Zhuhai, focusing on R&D in new energy power, intelligent driving systems, and new materials, providing full lifecycle services, including yacht operation centers and bonded maintenance centers.

Zhuhai Tanhai Yacht Technology Co., Ltd. is registered in Jinwan District, Zhuhai. Jinwan’s Pingsha Town is the first and currently the only yacht-specific town in China.

Public information shows that the Pingsha Yacht Industry Park, built in 2002, has an over 85% local supporting rate, with 68 yacht-related enterprises within 10 square kilometers, including 32 yacht manufacturing companies and 36 supporting and service enterprises, such as Jieteng Shipbuilding, Yaguang Technology (Sunbird Yachts), Jiahang Yachts, Ilyat, and Tianyu Yachts.

Hu Zhenyu told 21st Century Business Herald that, unlike Dalian’s heavy-duty, high-end custom route, Pingsha yacht companies are mainly private, relying on local supply chains to achieve modular design and mass production. This is key to bringing entry-level yachts from hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan down to around 100,000 yuan.

Leveraging the industrial chain and mass production capacity of the Greater Bay Area, yachts are shifting from being a “plaything for the wealthy” to the “next car” for families.

The eve of industry explosion

Liu Qiangdong’s “captain dream” is anchoring successively in three cities. Though distant, they connect the north and south, cleverly linking R&D, manufacturing, market, and service into a complete industrial chain.

However, just as the popularity of new energy vehicles took over a decade to reach mass adoption, making yachts accessible to the general public still faces pain points such as expensive mooring, complicated approvals, incomplete supporting facilities, and lack of scenes. Each of these three cities is exploring solutions within their waters.

Last December, Dalian issued the “Implementation Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of the Cruise and Yacht Industry,” listing 23 specific tasks aimed at making the yacht industry a new economic growth point during the “14th Five-Year Plan.”

In terms of infrastructure, Dalian will promote the construction of two new yacht docks at Suoyu Bay Jinggu Fuel and Manhua docks, and upgrade existing core docks and service centers at Xinghai Bay, Donggang, and Laohutan; in terms of cultural, sports, tourism, and business integration, Dalian is developing a city-wide map and service list for sea fishing, a popular activity for yacht outings, aiming to create a “fish big in Dalian” brand and cultivate high-end leisure products combining sea fishing, dining, and sightseeing.

Beyond manufacturing costs, Dalian’s confidence also comes from its proximity to the large markets of Hong Kong, Macau, and globally.

As the largest domestic investment project in the yacht industry, Tanhai’s headquarters has just settled in Dalian, and Guangdong Province has announced the establishment of a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao yacht free travel joint meeting system. The “Responsibilities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Yacht Free Travel Joint Office and Member Units,” issued simultaneously, details tasks for each unit to promote full-chain management and coordination.

Right across from Shenzhen, Hong Kong is Asia’s largest and most mature yacht import market, with over 12.5k registered resident yachts. Shenzhen has also absorbed spillover demand, with Shenzhen Bay Yacht Club serving as the designated port for “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao yacht free travel,” with over 300 yachts from Hong Kong and Macau entering Qianhai.

In a previous press conference on “High-Quality Development of Maritime Services and Port Navigation,” Shenzhen also announced plans to strengthen mechanisms among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau, including establishing a dual-licensing management model for yachts in Hong Kong and Macau, developing certification procedures for yacht captains operating in Guangdong waters, and expanding the scope of Shenzhen’s yacht free travel waters.

Image source: Shenzhen Bay Yacht Club

“China’s yacht industry is on the eve of explosion,” Hu Zhenyu told 21st Century Business Herald. Currently, many places are simplifying yacht certification, registration, and departure approvals, promoting yacht free travel in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, expanding public water areas, and accelerating the construction of public docks, charging and refueling networks, and rescue systems. The long-standing barriers of “can’t stop, can’t go far, too strict management” are gradually breaking down under industry and policy support.

According to the Ministry of Transport, in the past three years, China’s yacht numbers have grown rapidly, with about 54.7% of newly registered yachts among the total. By the end of 2025, China is expected to have 9,850 registered yachts, continuing to grow during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period.

According to the International Council of Marine Industry Associations (ICOMIA), the global yacht fleet exceeds 34 million vessels, with the United States leading with over 15 million. This market gap also indicates enormous growth potential.

“Manufacturing is different from the internet; it may take ten or twenty years for quality, technology, and environmental friendliness to gain worldwide recognition,” Liu Qiangdong said. This oceanic journey, about manufacturing and consumption upgrading, has only just begun.