Luxury yacht sales in China stall amid concerns over economy, crackdown on corruption

Five years ago China looked like the market with the most potential for luxury yacht sales, but the boom never came after wealthy mainlanders were put off by a slowing economy, the depreciating yuan and fears over being the target of official scrutiny, according to industry insiders.

Official statistics on yacht ownership are not available for the past two years, but a report released by the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association, affiliated with the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission, revealed that as of 2014 there were about 3,700 yachts measuring 8 metres or more registered on the mainland.

Mainland media reports indicate that the yacht market was worth about 4.15 billion yuan in 2013, the latest year figures are available.

“The market in China is still about the same size [as three yeas ago], with about 3,000 to 4,000 registered yachts across the mainland, about half imported from overseas,” said Sunny Tao, sales director with Simpson Marine Ltd, one of the mainland’s biggest yacht broker companies.

The industry began on the mainland in 1996 when two yacht clubs opened separately in Suzhou and Shenzhen. Since then, yachting has become a viable luxury activity for flamboyant, wealthy people.

“The years from 2009 to 2011 were the golden times for the yacht market in China, when the country’s economy expanded quickly following China’s 4 trillion yuan stimulus to boost the economy,” said Tao, who has sold more than 100 yachts to wealthy mainland Chinese over the past decade.