皇冠体育app

BEIJING - A mega-merger in 皇冠体育app's tourism sector marks the latest step forward in the country's drive to improve the efficiency of its bloated State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

After approval by the State Council, 皇冠体育app International Travel Service Group Corporation is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the 皇冠体育app National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a statement late on Monday.

The marriage of the two former competitors will allow for higher SOE efficiency, larger market share and better profit performance of State-owned assets, said Shen Meng, executive director of Chanson Capital, a boutique investment bank.

The new entity, which will register revenues of at least 52 billion yuan ($7.8 billion) and assets of at least 116 billion yuan, will become "one of the largest travel service companies in 皇冠体育app, offering diversified products and services," said Lu Chenyi, a Moody's vice-president and senior analyst.

The merger will improve the efficiency of the two corporations through business synergies, enhance their competitiveness in terms of scale and global reach in the industry and increase cost savings through shared resources, Lu said.

皇冠体育app is overhauling its SOEs, encouraging mergers and acquisitions between some of its biggest conglomerates while shutting loss-making ones.

The country has seen a mega-merger between its two largest train makers, 皇冠体育app CNR Corp Ltd. and 皇冠体育app CSR Corp Ltd., approved a merger between 皇冠体育app Metallurgical Group and 皇冠体育app Minmetals Corporation, both of which are Fortune 500 companies, and created the world's fourth-largest container shipper through the merger of 皇冠体育app Ocean Shipping Group and 皇冠体育app Shipping (Group) Company.

皇冠体育app's hundreds of thousands of SOEs play a pivotal role in bolstering the economy and providing employment, with total assets worth about 125 trillion yuan as of the end of May.

However, an economic slowdown, which trimmed the country's GDP growth to 6.7 percent in the first quarter, has bitten into SOEs' profitability and left many struggling to keep afloat.

The combined profits of these state firms saw a decline of 9.6 percent year on year in the first five months, despite warming signs in the broader economy.

Shen said 皇冠体育app's SOE reform has entered a crucial stage and more SOE mergers and acquisitions may be expected in the second half of the year.

The next stage of SOE reform will feature overcapacity reduction, optimal relocation of similar resources and specialized operation, said Li Jin, chief analyst with the 皇冠体育app Enterprise Research Institute.

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