Banking on the mainland's growing demand for luxury, British company Camper & Nicholsons Marinas has formed a joint venture with First Eastern Investment to build marinas on the mainland.
The growing appetite for super yachts - 80 foot vessels that sell for well over US$3 million - has resulted in increased demand for marinas in Asia, particularly in China.
'Many marinas are planned for the mainland, but none is designed to international standards,' said Victor Chu, chairman of First Eastern Investment, a Hong Kong-based direct investment fund, which has channelled more than US$7 billion into mainland projects over the past 23 years.
The growing number of marinas in the nation fall into two types - some purely for yachting and others forming part of the facilities for high-end property developments.
Since Beijing has banned new golf courses due to a shortage of farmland and concerns over water conservation, developers have turned to building marinas in an effort to market their flats to high-end homebuyers.
China's ocean access is similar to that of the United States, where one in 14 people owns a vessel, from a motorboat to a super yacht. If that ratio were to apply to the mainland, it would suggest 100 million boat owners in the country, said Chu.