The yacht will travel along some of cities on the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mirissa in Sri Lanka, Mumbai in India and Alexandria in Egypt, and conclude its journey in Monaco.

Guo Chuan, an enthusiastic Chinese navigator who became the first man to finish a 138-day solo nonstop circumnavigation on a class-40 boat in 2013, and his international crew will be responsible for the voyage.

The event, supported by the local government, enterprises and some sports associations, is aimed at promoting Qingdao's image as a sailing city through a number of cultural, trade, tourism and sport activities in the cities the trimaran yacht will call at, said Liu Yu, a director at the sailing administration center.

As China's main sailing city, Qingdao has hosted a number of international top sailing competitions and cultivated a group of sailing athletes in recent years, stated Liu, who also expressed the hope that the city can make more contributions to the worldwide development of the sport.

Edited by Mevlut Katik