By Shi Xiangjie

QINGDAO:   As   sailing   re- gatta host of the  2008 Olympic Games,   Qingdao`s   boating industry is booming.

During  the  past  five  years of  preparation,  Qingdao  has emerged  as  China`s  unrivaled home of the nautical sport loved right around the world.

Successive  years  of  hosting international  sailing  events have developed the local marine industry,  especially  sailboat and yacht manufacturing.

"After  the  Olympics,  sail- ing  and  voyage  sports,  in  my view,  will  rapidly  soar,"  Qing- dao Deputy Mayor and Sailing Committee Vice-President Zang Aimin said.

"The   boat   economy   will also  show  its  extraordinary vitality."

Excitement  about  the  2008 Games  is  creating  a  burgeon- ing market for boat production in Qingdao.

In   March   last   year   the catamaran  Nautic  Star  was launched   by   the   Qingdao Lead-Tech  Enterprise  (QLTE) and  will  serve  as  a  signal boat  during  the  2008  sailing competition.

Thanks  to  its  world-class design and technology capabili- ties, QLTE defeated competitors from  Japan  and  Britain  in  a tender process to manufacture all working boats for the   008 sailing competition.

The    company    has    also provided  the  Olympic  sailing committee  four  carracks  and 200 working  boats  including vessels for international judges and technical officials, as well as jury, rescue and buoy-laying boats.

More than  20 manfacturers now  make  Qingdao  a  boating center.

Qingdao`s  1000  berths  are the  most  of  any  city  across China.

Four large yacht clubs are be- ing built in a total investment of 1.8 billion yuan ($  37million).

More  than  5  billion  yuan ($660 million) is being invested in  Hualu  International  Yacht Club, which will remain a sail- ing hub after the Olympics.

The  Media  Center  of  the Olympic  sailing  base  will  be transformed  into  a  large  sail- ing and yacht club with 700 to 800 berths.

Qingdao Yinhai International Yacht Club is the first of its kind in the city.

According to deputy manager Guan  Longjun,  all  366  berths have  already  been  booked  de- spite their exorbitant price.

Half of the yacht berths were leased by enterprises operating in the fields of real estate, iron and  steel,  IT  and  freight  for- warders.

About  20  percent  were owned  by  individuals  and another  30  were  bought  by domestic  and  overseas  yacht companies and clubs.

"The boat market of Qingdao started up around 2004,"  Guan said.

"As the  2008 sailing compe- tition approaches, this market booms day by day.

"The  consuming  associated with sailing and boat is expect- ed to have a big breakthrough in the near future."

Ocean University of China as- sistant professor Xu Sheng said the sailing competition of   2008 will function as an accelerator for the development of Qingdao boat  economy,  just  as  Japan`s boat  economy  developed  after the 1964 Tokyo games.