The first polar cruise ship made in China is handed over to a US company in Haimen, Nantong on Sept 6, 2019. [Photo by Tang Shuquan/for chinadaily.com.cn]

The Haimen shipbuilding center of China Merchants Heavy Industry Co reported record-high sales in January and February, in spite of the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia.

The center's taxable sales surpassed 2.6 billion yuan ($366.86 million) in the first two months of this year, rising 600 percent year on year.

Since the beginning of the outbreak, the center has established 13 work teams for epidemic control and prevention to minimize the impact on production.

So far, more than 6,100 employees have returned to work, and they have full confidence in meeting the annual 5-billion-yuan sales goal, according to Yan Chang Chun, head of the production management department.

There are currently nine vessels under construction and eight ready to be handed over to clients, worth a total of more than 10 billion yuan.

Construction on a shipyard, an industrial park and a laser plant for luxury cruise liners are also underway, which is expected to help form a cruise ship industrial cluster valued at more than 100 billion yuan.

The Haimen center, founded in 2013, is a major production branch of China Merchants Heavy Industry Co. It has earned international fame by building the first Chinese-built cruise ship designed for polar trips and the world’s largest floating production storage offloading vessel.