China plans new round of consolidation for maritime sector
Beijing is planning a new round of consolidation for several industries to further push forward its strategy to optimise state-owned assets and industrial structure, China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) announced in a press conference for its 2019 working goals.
According to SASAC, the government will accelerate the consolidation in several sectors including power, iron and steel, shipping, shipbuilding, construction materials and tourism through mergers and acquisitions, asset swaps and strategic alliances.
The commission has encouraged companies in the sectors to consolidate with their upstream and downstream companies while streamlining their businesses internally.
Beijing’s ongoing efforts to consolidate the maritime sector have resulted in mergers involving the top four state-run shipping groups over the past couple of years. Cosco Group and China Shipping Group completed a merger in 2016, followed by a merger between China Merchants and Sinotrans & CSC in 2017.
Two major state-run power groups, China Shenhua Group and China Guodian Corporation, which each operates sizeable shipping and port assets, also completed a merger last year.
The announcement is sure to fuel ongoing rumours about a merger between the two state-run shipbuilding conglomerates, CSSC and CSIC.