Sea Expandary is moving quickly. Launched only this year with a reported $700m investment from JD.com founder Richard Liu, the Chinese yacht venture has now added an established yacht manufacturer and international distribution network to a strategy that already includes a major superyacht services business.
This week Sea Expandary confirmed the completion of its acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in OceanWalker, according to Chinese media, who give no purchase price or valuation for OceanWalker, but note that its export scale and mass-production capability place it among China’s leading yacht manufacturers, with orders continuing to grow.
OceanWalker brings an international route to market
OceanWalker (Fujian Skywalker Yacht Co) was established in December 2022. It combines yacht design / R&D, manufacturing, sales and service. It has a standardised production base with automated / high-end production lines and dedicated interior outfitting and mechanical / electrical workshops.
The core product range – for coastal leisure, business use and long-distance/ocean cruising – includes the S60 (luxury power catamaran, with multiple versions), the X62 (high-speed monohull flybridge yacht) and the X53.
OceanWalker’s website says its S60 has been exported to Singapore, Dubai and the Bahamas. (In January 2026 an OceanWalker S60 left Zhangzhou under its own power rather than being shipped as cargo. OceanWalker describes this as its “self-propelled departure” export model. It says this can save almost US$100,000 in logistics costs, while simultaneously demonstrating the yacht’s ocean-going capability.)
Sea Expandary was launched in 2026 by JD.com founder Richard Liu (with a reported $700m investment). The idea was to target yacht manufacturing, new-energy technology, global sales and marine services. Liu disclosed orders for five 72m twin-hull superyachts from overseas clients. At the time the company also outlined manufacturing, R&D, service hubs and marina plans across southern China.
Part of OceanWalker’s attractiveness must be its established international network, spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, with exclusive multi-level dealers / distributors in those markets and established authorised partners in the US and Singapore.
Manufacturing meets superyacht services
Sea Expandary moved beyond manufacturing in May 2026, when its wholly owned subsidiary Wave Expandary agreed to acquire an initial 80 per cent stake in Camper & Nicholsons in a deal valuing the superyacht services business at €50m. The transaction gave the Chinese venture access to an established international brokerage, yacht management, charter, new-build and design platform.
Sea Expandary’s business model is to grow a whole-industry-chain ecosystem global group. With Oceanwalker, it is buying an existing manufacturing platform plus international sales channels. Sohu Mobile says the acquisitions are helping Sea Expandary establish an initial full-service chain covering design, manufacturing, delivery, berthing, maintenance and refit.
Local media reports that the purchase will increase manufacturing capacity (rather than requiring it to build all its own production capability from scratch), fill gaps in its yacht range (OceanWalker’s existing production of catamarans and flybridge monohulls gives Sea Expandary a broader immediate product platform) and improve intelligent manufacturing. Plus, the acquisition is expected to substantially shorten Sea Expandary’s yacht delivery times.
China’s leisure-marine market: a changing picture
While domestic recreational boating demand remains constrained, China’s importance to the global marine industry is increasing rapidly through manufacturing, technology, investment, export brands and increasingly sophisticated industry infrastructure.
Chinese media also mention wider marine plans in China which include a proposed yacht manufacturing base in Dalian, planned yacht manufacturing capacity in Zhuhai, yacht infrastructure and marina-related operations in Shenzhen and a major sailing-yacht manufacturing base in Sanya.
In February 2025, MIN’s market report described China’s domestic leisure-yacht market as largely stagnant, with economic uncertainty, cautious consumers and restrictive navigation regulations limiting growth. Boat shows were recovering, however, and China remained a major manufacturing base, supported by government-backed marine development.
But Chinese manufacturers were targeting international markets. In August 2025, MIN reported that Highfield was continuing to expand its overseas dealer network from its Weihai production base, while Aquila’s experience highlighted both the scale and vulnerability of China’s export-led boatbuilding model. Around 90 per cent of Aquila’s sales were going to the US before tariffs forced the company to look harder at Europe and other markets.
Chinese marine technology was also moving up the value chain. In November 2025, Shanghai-based electric-outboard company ExploMar raised more than $10m for international expansion, while in March 2026 ePropulsion established a marine testing platform in Dongguan covering electric and hybrid propulsion systems.
By February 2026, Chinese investment in leisure marine had become considerably more ambitious. Sea Expandary was launched with a reported $700m investment and the strategy extended beyond manufacturing in May 2026, when Wave Expandary acquired its initial 80 per cent stake in Camper & Nicholsons.
At the same time, China is becoming more embedded in the international marine industry itself. In April 2026, the China Boat Industry & Trade Association became a sustaining member of ICOMIA, while Shanghai was selected to host the 2027 World Marinas Conference, signalling greater integration between China’s domestic industry and global marine organisations.
At the premium end, international brands continued investing in the Chinese market. In August 2026, Princess Yachts moved to a direct-sales operation covering Greater China, while in July 2026 Sanlorenzo partnered with Chinese technology firm BYD on next-generation yacht battery systems.
The post Sea Expandary continues global yacht strategy with OceanWalker acquisition appeared first on Marine Industry News.