A new large-scale roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) passenger ship will be built in Yantai, Shandong province, this year to serve the Yantai-South Korea shipping line.

With an investment of 350 million yuan ($57.17 million) from Bohai Ferry Co and the Yantai Port Group, the ship is scheduled to come into service in 2017. When ready, the ship will be able to carry 800 passengers and 450 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers each trip, according to Yu Xinjian, general manager of Bohai Ferry Co.

Yantai and South Korea have maintained sound economic and cultural cooperation for decades. Many South-Korea-funded enterprises have settled down in Yantai, including DSME Shandong Co, which produces products such as offshore drilling platforms and blocks for vessels, LG Electronics and Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment. Other international companies in Yantai include Foxconn CMC and SMG Dongyue and are required to export their products to overseas countries such as South Korea, Japan and the US. The close business tie between Yantai and South Korea makes the development of an efficient logistics chain a major priority.

The first shipping line between Yantai and South Korea was launched on July 1, 2014. To date, the route has transported more than 80,000 passengers and 20,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) containers.

The launch of the Belt and Road Initiative is expected to bring new business opportunities to Yantai.

The new ship aims to keep up with the pace of the Belt and Road Initiative and further facilitate business exchanges between Yantai and South Korea.

The Belt and Road Initiative, namely the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.