Chinese shipping giants' merger approved by State Council

China’s State Council has approved the merger of the country’s two biggest shipping outfits, China Ocean Shipping Co. (COSCO Group) and China Shipping Group, Caixin reported, citing an executive at one of the companies. The merger of the two state-owned conglomerates to form China COSCO Shipping Group will create the world’s fourth-largest container operator by capacity, according to maritime news agency Alphaliner. Liu Jun, deputy editor of the Shipping Exchange Bulletin, said merger would be extremely complicated, involving the integration of sales networks, reorganizing of shipping routes and the transfer of assets owned at domestic and foreign ports.