On February 24, 2026, on the first working day after the Spring Festival, Liu Qiangdong(Richard Liu), founder of JD.com, Fortune’s “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders”, invested 5 billion yuan in his personal name to establish a new yacht brand, Sea Expandary, officially announcing his full entry into the new energy yacht industry. It covers the entire industrial chain of R&D, manufacturing, sales, operation, leasing, brokerage and services, aiming to compete head-on with top European and American yacht manufacturers, create 100,000-yuan-class inclusive new energy yachts, and make yachts enter ordinary families like cars. This cross-border layout instantly detonated the industry and attracted widespread market attention - why would this entrepreneur, who has been deeply engaged in the Internet and real economy for many years,s choose to cross-border into the new energy yacht track? What is the industrial logic behind this heavyweight layout? And what is the core material code supporting this grand vision?
First of all, accurately enter the policy dividend period. The state continues to increase support for the yacht industry. The General Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Transport and coastal provinces have issued policies to promote the popularisation and large-scale transformation of the yacht industry. Liu Qiangdong's entry at this time just seizes the policy opportunity.
Second, the market space has great potential. The per capita ownership of yachts in China is less than 1/1000 of that in the United States. With the expansion of the middle class and the heating up of coastal tourism, yachts are transforming from toys for the rich into family leisure tools. The 100,000-yuan-class pricing accurately breaks through the market threshold and has a strong differentiated advantage.
Third, the new energy track achieves overtaking on curves. European and American manufacturers monopolise the traditional yacht market, but they are slow to respond to electrification and large-scale production; China has global advantages in power batteries, intelligent manufacturing and other fields. Entering with new energy can bypass the engine technology barrier and realise the rise of local brands.
To achieve the 100,000-yuan-class inclusive goal, the core lies in solving the problem of "low cost, light weight and high reliability", and plastic honeycomb panels become the key. Traditional materials cannot balance cost and performance, while the lightweight of plastic honeycomb panels can improve cruising range and reduce costs, their high strength and weather resistance ensure safety and durability, and their easy processing and mass production are suitable for large-scale manufacturing, perfectly matching the positioning needs of Sea Expandary.
According to the brand's official plan, Sea Expandary will focus on the layout of the industrial chain, and is actively promoting the construction of an intelligent manufacturing base in Zhuhai and the establishment of its China headquarters in Shenzhen. For its new energy yacht products, plastic honeycomb panels, with their outstanding performance advantages, are regarded as the preferred core structural material, which is expected to be widely used in key parts such as hulls and decks in the future. The potential cooperation between the two will provide strong support for the popularisation of new energy yachts and the high-quality development of China's yacht industry.