Xu Lirong to Head China Cosco Shipping Group

The acting chairman of China Shipping Group (CSG) has been appointed the new chairman of China Cosco Shipping Group, an entity to be created following the merger of China Ocean Shipping (Cosco Group) and China Shipping Co.

The merger was cleared by China’s State Council earlier in December.

Under the deal, the two companies will merge their container shipping businesses, in addition to ship leasing, tanker shipping, bulk shipping, financial businesses and other sectors.

The deal forms part of China’s push to revamp its oversupplied shipping industry by encouraging consolidation.

The merger is still subject to shareholders’ approval.