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Beijing officially debuts Cosco-CSCL as China Cosco Shipping Group

CHINA has formally approved of the establishment of China Cosco Shipping Group (CSG), a new company created from the merger of Cosco and China Shipping.

Beijing has also appointed CSG chairman Xu Lirong, 59, to head the new company. Mr Xu previously served in Cosco for 36 years, ultimately as deputy president of Cosco Group.

Mr Xu is said to be well respected in both companies and was the leader of a joint working group that formulated the merger, sources familiar with the matter told Lloyd's List.

Meanwhile, Wan Min, Cosco Group's current deputy general manager, has been designated as the general manager and a board director of CCSG.

Mr Wan is also the chairman of Cosco Pacific and Cosco Shipping. The 48-year-old was the deputy general manager of China Cosco Holdings between August 2011 and March 2015.

Ma Zehua steps down as Cosco Group chairman. The company's general manager Li Yunpeng and his counterpart Zhang Guofa were also removed from office.

China Cosco Holdings will now become the box shipping vehicle of the two giants. China Shipping Development will have the oil and gas tanker fleet.; Cosco Pacific will absorb port assets.

China Shipping Container Lines will become a leasing and financing service firm; the bulker assets, however, will be sold to Cosco Group, according to exchange filings by those units.