The city of Zhongshan in southern China’s Guangdong province has seen a significant increase in ship maintenance and repair orders from Hong Kong and Macau. The growth of over 30 percent is due to the implementation of favorable market entry policies and cost-effective services.
The city has already launched a direct access service for servicing ships from Hong Kong and Macao in October 2023.
Until now, ships registered in Hong Kong and Macau had to go through numerous administrative procedures and rely on towing services to access ports in other cities within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area for maintenance work.
“We come from Macao to have our ship repaired here, and the price is reasonable. We save about 100,000 yuan (US$14,038) in costs for each maintenance,” said Zhong Zhaolin, a representative of the ship’s operator.
“Port-based maintenance and repair orders from Hong Kong and Macao have increased by about 20 percent,” said Huang Tianzhun, a representative of a shipbuilding company in the city of Zhongshan.
According to the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration, Zhongshan has already handled 31 ship maintenance and repair orders from Hong Kong and Macao. By the end of the year, this number is expected to triple to around 100.
“We have actively cooperated with the maritime authorities in Hong Kong and Macao to reach some agreements. Under these agreements, ships from Hong Kong and Macao only need to present valid seaworthiness documents and meet the minimum safe crew requirements to be allowed to directly enter Zhongshan Port for maintenance. This helps companies reduce costs and improve efficiency, enhancing the competitiveness of the ship repair and construction industry,” said Wang Wei, deputy director of the Marine Department of Zhongshan Port.
To capitalize on this increasing demand, Guangdong plans to expand the direct access service to more locations within the Greater Bay Area, thereby boosting the development of the shipping industry in the region.
“Next, we will further refine the relevant working mechanisms and popularize the Zhongshan model in other cities in the Greater Bay Area. The goals are to further facilitate smooth and convenient ship navigation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, reduce maintenance costs for the shipping sectors in Hong Kong and Macao, and ultimately promote the growth of the shipping economy in the Greater Bay Area,” said Xin Jian, director of the Ship Supervision Department of the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration.
Zhongshan sees increase in ship maintenance and repair orders from Hong Kong and Macau
The Chinese video game hit “Black Myth: Wukong” has taken the gaming world by storm, selling more than 10 million copies across all platforms in just three days after its release, developer Game Science announced on Friday evening.
Considered the first triple-A title developed in China, Black Myth: Wukong topped the list of “most played games” on Steam, a leading gaming platform, just an hour after its debut on Tuesday morning.
Game Science found that the game’s maximum concurrent player count across all platforms is over 3 million.
Black Myth: Wukong is inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. The novel follows the adventures of a monk and his three disciples, with a particular focus on Sun Wukong, the legendary Monkey King known for his supernatural powers and evil nature.
Although most players are from China, the game is extremely popular around the world, and some enthusiastic fans have compiled over 200 pages of background material to help international players understand the story’s deep cultural roots.
Gamers like Tyler Colp in the United States find the big-budget production refreshing, as the themes are simply not something you typically find in U.S. games.
He says Chinese gamers have long been playing Western-produced video games, so it’s time for a game like Wukong to do the opposite – introduce American gamers to Chinese culture while being highly entertaining.
“I think it’s a pretty surprising kind of game, especially because it’s the kind of stuff that doesn’t really seem to get greenlit here. So having something that you can really reference is like, if you really want to learn more about ancient Chinese mythology, you can play this game and really immerse yourself in it and understand why it’s so popular,” said Tyler Colp, deputy editor of PC Gamer.
Chinese hit game “Black Myth: Wukong” sells 10 million copies in three days
