Were it not for the fact that China lacks marinas, and that it is difficult for foreign owners to obtain cruising permits, more Chinese would have embraced sailing, he says.

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Under Chinese regulations the skippers of foreign yachts must report to authorities everywhere they berth. Some yacht owners regard that as too much hassle, Lurssen says.

Few yachts sail to China. If more did, Chinese people would see for themselves that doing so is not that complicated, he says.

Hainan has seven marinas with a total of 1,170 berths. The province's yacht industry development plan calls for 25 more marinas with 14,200 berths to be built by 2030.

Al-Barwani acknowledges that the lack of marinas is a problem. Those in the yacht-building and related sectors would benefit from such investment, he says.

"Typically, hotels, yacht clubs and resort companies will find more business opportunities if the yachting industry grows."

In addition, Al-Barwani says, China needs time to build up support sectors such as yacht maintenance, insurance and banking and finance.

Another big barrier for Western yacht exporters is an import tax of about 40 percent on yachts sold to China, he says.

One way of overcoming this problem would be to set up joint production of yachts in China, he says, adding that he thinks current demand for the vessels in the country is insufficient to make such activity sustainable for Oceanco, which makes mainly big yachts.

Lurssen calls the high yacht tax prohibitive and says it is "a way to keep foreign-built yachts out". The secondary yacht market, which further facilitates the affordability of yachts in the West, is almost non-existent in China because Chinese customers are barred from importing a vessel that is more than a year old, Lurssen says.

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