Leveraging visa facilitation policies including 240-hour visa-free transit, Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal handled 78 ship calls and 480,000 passenger trips in the first quarter of 2025 – up 44 percent and 7.7 percent respectively from pre-pandemic 2019 levels.

It is projected to receive 225 cruise calls throughout the year, a 10 percent increase year-on-year, solidifying its position as the top cruise port in the country.

"We will continue leveraging cultural heritage as our cornerstone and innovation as our catalyst to implement more cultural-tourism projects, transforming the Baoshan waterfront into a world-class cruise tourism destination. Our goal is to elevate Baoshan's narrative from the Yangtze River estuary onto the global stage," said Jiang Fenfen, deputy director of Baoshan district culture and tourism bureau.