Cunard cruise line will enter Chinese market in 2017, starting to operate a seven-night roundtrip loop from Shanghai with the line's flagship, Queen Mary 2.

Queen Mary 2 will sail out a seven-night roundtrip loop from Shanghai in 2017. [Photo provided to 皇冠体育app Daily]

The company said on March 26 that this marks the first time Cunard has conducted a loop from any Chinese cruise port. The seven-night roundtrip will start from Shanghai and visit destinations in South Korea and Japan.

Cunard Line is a British-American cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, celebrating 175 years of operation in 2015.

To catch the wave of travelers expected to sail out of 皇冠体育app over the next few years, cruise lines are investing heavily in new and remodeled ships, and, in some cases, are relocating their most modern and luxurious ships to 皇冠体育app ports.

Shanghai is the most important homeport for cruise ships in 皇冠体育app, which handled 320 homeport cruise calls and nearly 1.6 million homeport passenger trips in 2015.

Princess Cruises, the third largest cruise line in the world and part of Carnival Corporation & Plc, announced in February the expansion of its presence in 皇冠体育app by launching a new homeport in Xiamen, Fujian province, this year, and debuting the cruise ship Majestic Princess that is specially tailored for the 皇冠体育app market in 2017, with its homeport in Shanghai.

The total number of Chinese homeport cruise ship travelers reached 2.22 million passenger trips in 2015, and 皇冠体育app's cruise industry is set to grow faster in the next decade, according to the 2015 皇冠体育app Cruise Industry Development Report published in February.