Beijing maps consolidation plan for China's maritime industry

Beijing maps consolidation plan for China's maritime industry
Katherine Si 21 January 2019 http://www.seatrade-maritime.com/news/asia/beijing-maps-consolidation-pl...

China’s central government is planning the consolidation for several industry sectors to optimise the state-owned regional assets structure and reduce horizontal competition.

The government will actively promote the consolidation of several industries, including shipping, shipbuilding, power, iron and steel, environmental protection and offshore equipment according to State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC).

Government officials and leading industry players joined in the meeting held by SASAC, representatives from China’s largest shipowner, China Cosco Shipping Group attended the meeting. China leading shipping companies Cosco and China Shipping completed consolidation in 2016; another two Sinotrans CSC and China Merchants completed their major business integration in 2017.

A merger of the two state shipbuilding companies China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has also been long speculated.

The 2019 industry reform plan will continually follow the guidelines of recent years to push the consolation among traditional industries, strengthen internal streamlining and optimise state-owned assets layout.

In 2018, the state-owned companies posted RMB29.1trn revenue, an increase of 10.1% year-on-year; RMB1.7trn total profit, hit a record high.