A Chinese cruise liner to ply the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road started its maiden voyage from the Beihai port in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Monday morning.

The liner has scheduled stops in Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia before eventually reaches Kuantan Port in Malaysia.

The 135-m-long 20-m-wide modern cruise ship can accommodate about 400 people and is equipped with wireless Internet access.

Zhang Xiaoqin, vice governor of Guangxi, said the new cruise liner was another milestone in China-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cooperation and would promote maritime connectivity in the region.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the rejuvenation of the Maritime Silk Road to establish a closer China-ASEAN community.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2015)