Construction of a mother port for luxury cruise liners will begin this year at Taizi Bay, Shekou in Shenzhen's Nanshan District, Mayor Xu Zongheng said Tuesday.

The project will mark the start of the development of cruise liner and yacht travel industry in the city.

The Taizi Bay mother port, billed as Shenzhen's "future gateway" to the sea, is expected to be in use by 2011. The main project and related facilities will be built over five years and become a strategic platform connecting Hong Kong and Shenzhen, yesterday's Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.

The mother port, capable of accommodating the world's largest cruise liner, the 150,000-ton Queen Elizabeth II, will be the largest port of its kind in South China. The Metro Line 2 will be extended to the port in the future.

The port will also become the starting point for the planned 15-kilometer scenic "coastal corridor."

When the port is operational, residents will be able to reach Hong Kong Disneyland and airport in only 10 minutes, much faster than existing routes.

In the future, the city is also planning to build several terminals for cruise liners around Dameisha areas and the Dapeng Peninsula to form a group of berths serving the mother port at Shekou.

Shenzhen has a geographic advantage and the economic power to develop a high-end yacht travel industry with a 150-kilometer coastline and 23 beaches, Xu said.

"The yacht industry has a high return on capital. Every U.S. dollar invested can get up to US$10 in return," Xu said.