An international cruise ship, the MSC Bellissima, arrives in China on January 27, 2026, calling at Shanghai's Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal as its first Chinese port call after a four-month hiatus. Photo: VCG

An international cruise ship, the MSC Bellissima, arrived in China on Tuesday, calling at Shanghai's Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal as its first Chinese port call after a four-month hiatus, chinanews.com reported.

The call on Tuesday marked the port welcoming its first dual ship berthing of 2026, when the returning MSC Bellissima berthed alongside China's first domestically built large cruise ship, Adora Magic City, underscoring the growing international appeal of Shanghai's cruise business, according to the report.

The cruise ship, MSC Bellissima, arrived with more than 3,800 passengers on board, including more than 3,500 foreign travelers from more than 30 countries and regions, including the US, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Japan. More than 98 percent of the international visitors used visa-exemption arrangements upon arriving in China. 

"The continuous arrival of international cruise ships underscores Shanghai's rising prominence as a premier cruise destination and signals the steady revival of China's cruise tourism industry. It also showcases the port's operational capacity and the rebound of international cruise demand," Zhong Zhechao, founder of One Shipping, an international logistics consultancy, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

In 2025, more than 120,000 foreign passenger trips entered or exited China via Shanghai's cruise terminals, up 82.6 percent year-on-year. The growth followed relaxed visa policies and facilitation measures, and improved accessibility for foreign travelers designed to boost inbound tourism, according to chinanews.com.

China introduced a 15-day visa-free entry policy for international cruise tour groups in May 2024, along with streamlined transit and departure policies for eligible foreign cruise travelers, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China's inbound cruise tourism market saw an unprecedented surge in 2025, with Shanghai ports handling a total of 538 inbound and outbound cruise calls, up 16.2 percent year-on-year, CCTV News reported.

Zhong said that the rapid rise of the cruise sector is delivering a multidimensional economic boost, and the growing capacity to accommodate multiple cruise ships simultaneously is helping some ports evolve from cross-border transport nodes into broader consumption and tourism hubs, stimulating surrounding services-sector clusters.

Beyond Shanghai, other Chinese coastal cities are also seeing growth in cruise tourism. As China's cruise market continues to open, industry observers predict a strong rebound in international cruise tourism in China this year.

Zhong noted that China is anticipating a significant boost in cruise tourism in 2026, with an increase in ship arrivals and travelers. Meanwhile, the nation's continued upgrades to entry facilitation measures have become a key driver in boosting inbound tourism, he said.