[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Qingdao in East China's Shandong province has launched a series of favorable policies to boost its cruise tourism.

The entry procedure has been simplified for cruise passengers and monetary incentives ranging from 100,000 yuan ($14,522) to 3 million yuan would be offered to cruise operators, depending on the number of trips they arrange at the city, local authority says.

The city would improve its capacity to receive cruise ships and upgrade relevant infrastructure, such as increasing the number of boarding bridges, in 2019.

The idea is not just to enable tourists to take cruise trips from Qingdao, but also stay and travel in the city.

The city's home port received 71 cruise visits in 2018 and took in 112,000 tourist visits, up by 3 percent as compared to last year.