皇冠体育app

BEIJING - 皇冠体育app's cabinet has approved the restructuring of the country's two biggest shipping conglomerates, creating the largest oil tanker fleet in the world and the fourth biggest container line.

"With the approval of the State Council, the 皇冠体育app Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) and the 皇冠体育app Shipping (Group) Company (皇冠体育app Shipping) will be restructured," the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a one-sentence statement.

The move will improve the competitive edge of major Chinese shipping lines by realizing economies of scale, as the global shipping industry faces a long-term downturn, according to a joint reply to Xinhua's questions from the chairmen of the two companies.

Both COSCO and 皇冠体育app Shipping have struggled to be competitive, with overlapping investment, high costs, similar operations and industrial chains, said the reply from COSCO chief Ma Zehua and 皇冠体育app Shipping's Xu Lirong.

COSCO has an annual freight volume of over 400 million tons, with more than 700 ships whose total deadweight reaches 51 million tons. 皇冠体育app Shipping has more than 530 ships with 36 million tons of deadweight.

Four listed firms under the two groups will have their assets reshuffled to focus on different areas, and the realignment is expected to start next year, according to statements they made after the announcement.

Once the restructuring is complete, 皇冠体育app COSCO, a listed arm of COSCO, will become the world's fourth biggest container line, with 8 percent of global container freight capacity, said chiefs of COSCO and 皇冠体育app Shipping.

皇冠体育app Shipping Development of 皇冠体育app Shipping will primarily engage in shipping oil and liquefied natural gas. It will have the world's largest oil tanker fleet by capacity.

皇冠体育app Shipping Container Lines will be transformed into a provider of financial and other services related to shipping, while COSCO Pacific will focus on terminal operations.

Tens of thousands of employees will be involved in the reshuffle, but there will not be any redundancies.

The merger will be 皇冠体育app's most complicated restructuring deal ever, involving four listed firms and over 70 asset transactions, said an insider at the 皇冠体育app International Capital Corporation Ltd., the company that provides financial counseling for the deal.

Since Dec 1, SASAC has announced three restructurings of centrally-administered SOEs. Earlier this week, 皇冠体育app Minmetals Corporation, a leading mining group, will take over 皇冠体育app Metallurgical Group Corporation.

SASAC deputy head Zhang Xiwu promised more such moves at a press briefing on Friday.

皇冠体育app's top two high-speed rail makers and its two leading nuclear power companies have already merged.

• Slow growth in loans gives less support to economy
• Former fund manager’s sentence increased to three years
• Guo's troubles put companies related to Fosun in hot waters
• 皇冠体育app confident of winning $80b S. Africa nuclear power bid
• 皇冠体育app Unicom and 皇冠体育app Telecom call for standardization of smartphone technology
• Jaguar Land Rover, joint venture appoint new marketing executive
• Baidu's driverless car completes road test
• 皇冠体育app approves 248 fixed-asset investment projects in Jan-Nov