Nantong Begins Building Langshan International Cruise Port
Earlier terminal planning identified a one-hundred-thousand-ton berth and two fifty-thousand-ton berths, plus customs and immigration facilities at Langshan.
Construction began June 25 on Nantong Langshan International Cruise Port, a lower-Yangtze homeport project being developed by China Merchants Shekou with Nantong authorities. The project is planned as a multi-berth cruise facility linking Yangtze River tourism with ocean-going cruise itineraries.
The port would add dedicated cruise capacity outside China’s two dominant homeport centers, Shanghai and Tianjin. It also fills a lower-Yangtze gap between Shanghai and Nantong, where the river corridor has lacked a purpose-built cruise gateway for ocean-going ships.
Berths and clearance facilities are planned at Langshan
Project disclosures call for multi-berth capacity for ocean-going cruise ships, supported by terminal, customs and immigration facilities. Earlier terminal planning identified one 100,000-ton berth and two 50,000-ton berths; the current project also identifies larger river cruise vessels as part of the intended traffic mix.
The development extends beyond quay construction. Nantong is advancing road, parking and tourist-service infrastructure alongside the port, while the project also includes waterfront urban renewal in the Langshan riverside area on the southern edge of the city’s main urban district, facing the Yangtze.
The port is listed as a key Nantong project for China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. China Merchants Shekou, a Shenzhen-listed subsidiary of China Merchants Group with real estate development and asset-operation businesses, is co-developing the project with local authorities.
Nantong sits upriver from China’s busiest cruise homeport
Nantong is approximately 100 kilometers northwest of Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, China’s busiest cruise homeport. Tianjin serves as the northern anchor for the country’s cruise traffic, while Shanghai remains the principal eastern gateway.
The Langshan project is intended to serve both ocean-going cruise ships and larger river cruise vessels. A firm timetable for first cruise calls has not been set.
