Carnival Corporation has announced that its cruise joint venture in China has signed a non-binding memorandum of agreement to order the industry’s first new cruise ships built in China for the Chinese market.

The deal is subject to several conditions including closing of the joint venture, financing and other key terms.

As part of the new deal, Carnival Corporation’s cruise joint venture in China agreed to order two new cruise ships to be built by a newly formed China-based shipbuilding joint venture between China’s largest shipbuilder, China State Shipbuilding Corporation, and Italy-based Fincantieri.

The partnership also grants Carnival Corporation’s cruise joint venture the option to order two additional China-built cruise ships.

Carnival Corporation’s cruise joint venture in China will operate the new ships as part of its plans to launch the first multi-ship domestic cruise brand in China.

Based on Carnival Corporation’s Vista-class platform, the design for the new ships will be tailored for the new Chinese cruise brand and the specific tastes of Chinese travellers.

The first of these ships is expected for delivery in 2022.

Carnival Corporation’s cruise joint venture – a partnership announced last fall with CSSC and China Investment Capital Corporation in which Carnival Corporation holds a minority interest – is expected to initially launch its new domestic Chinese cruise brand using ships that are purchased from Carnival Corporation’s existing fleet and homeported in China.

Separately, Carnival Corporation and its Chinese partners also announced today that the Chinese central government has now granted approval for the cruise joint venture to officially incorporate in Hong Kong.

This news follows a standard regulatory approval process with Chinese officials that has taken place since the joint venture agreement was originally announced in London in October 2015.

“We are excited about the potential for the first new cruise ships to be built and deployed in China for the enjoyment of Chinese travellers, which will be an important milestone in the development of the Chinese cruise market,” said Alan Buckelew, global chief operations officer for Carnival Corporation.

“As we work with our Chinese partners to launch the first domestic Chinese cruise brand in the next few years, being able to offer cruises on China-built cruise ships represents a new opportunity for us to generate excitement and demand for cruising amongst a broader segment of the Chinese vacation market, which is already the largest in the world and continues to see strong growth every year.”