In recent years, Chinese yacht brands have emerged on the international scene. This highlights not only the economic competitiveness of the Asian giant, but also the rapid rise of the Chinese yachting industry. Precisely to promote the industry and to discuss this favorable situation, the show was held last Dec. 5-8 at the Boating Sanya 2024, which brought together yachting players from around the world. A boating event that was not just a platform to present the latest technologies and new design frontiers in the industry, but more importantly an opportunity to increase one’s knowledge and discuss future directions of development.
This year, Boating Sanya 2024 invited a rich parterre of industry experts to speak at numerous forums and panel discussions that had the most important boating topics on the agenda, including branding, technological innovation, sustainability, and the expansion of China’s boating industry.
Chinese boating overseas thanks to Boating Sanya 2024
The rapid development of China’s yacht industry cannot ignore the promotion of brands outside national borders. Therefore, more and more Chinese yacht brands continue to strengthen their influence and competitiveness by participating in international boat shows and establishing sales networks abroad. These efforts, in addition to gaining recognition in the international market, have also given new impetus to the innovation of the entire Chinese yacht industry. Not surprisingly, the main event of Boating Sanya 2024 was “Chinese Yacht Brands Going Overseas.”
The forum featured some weighty guests who were invited to give keynote speeches: starting from different perspectives, Mahmoud Itani (marketing & communications expert of IR Yachts Consultancy), Arnaud Lemeunier (captain and founder of SLV Marine) and Allen Leng (chairman of Heysea Yachts) discussed the internationalization strategy of China’s yacht industry, the turning point of the Middle East market and the future direction of Chinese shipyards, bringing new ideas on the development of the yacht industry to the audience.
Alexandre Heng
Allen Leng
Arnaud Lemeumer
Demolar Du
Fabio Bronda
Joost Mertens
Leo Yang
Mahmoud Itani
Sam Li
Samuel Xu
Weng Kangqiang
Yolanda Liu
Zhu Lixiong
The focus on sustainable development
Another important conference at Boating Sanya 2024 was on the sustainable development of the marine industry. With the growing global demand on environmental protection, electric propulsion has become an important direction for the transformation and upgrading of the boating industry. This was discussed by Joost Mertens (sales manager & partner of Vripack Design), Demolar Du (chairwoman of Shanghai Far East Composites and Shanghai High Seas Sailing Friends Yacht Club), Weng Kangqiang (CATL Electric Boat Technology) and Fabio Bronda (Bronda Architects), focusing on the transformation and application of new environmentally sustainable energies, technologies and materials for the marine industry. In particular, the experts revealed the green, smart and eco-friendly future of the industry.
In direct continuity with this theme, there was the sub-forum on lifestyle at sea. As the global economy continues to develop and people’s living standards continue to improve, the sustainable lifestyle of yacht ownership has become an increasingly important goal to pursue. Yachts not only reflect the pursuit of quality living, but also become an important platform for connecting different cultures and expanding social circles. This panel discussion aimed to bring together five experts and leaders in the field(Leo Yang, chief representative of Burgess China; Zhu Lixiong, chairman of Shanghai Vita Biotechnology; Yolanda Liu, general manager of Hainan Visun Yacht Industry Development Investment Group; Alexandre Heng, founder of Asia Pacific Private Jet & Superyacht Company O2H2O; and Sam Li, chairman of Jetpon Group) to have an in-depth dialogue on how they can contribute to the sustainable development of the yacht industry and, at the same time, improve the quality of the high-end lifestyle of yacht owners. Moderator of the meetings was Samuel Xu, founder of China’s first yacht industry consulting and service company, Chao Yachting, as well as the popular boating video media channels Yacht Sam and Yacht Ace.
All in all, Boating Sanya 2024 was a 360-degree event on the Asian giant’s boating industry, crucial to understanding its present and future development prospects.
