China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, also referred to as the China COSCO Shipping Group or China COSCO Shipping, is a Chinese business conglomerate and state-owned enterprise headquartered in Shanghai. The group is engaged in a variety of business sectors, with a focus on integrated logistics, shipping, finance services, and equipment manufacturing. The company was formed by the merger of the COSCO Group and the China Shipping Group in January 2016.The merger was precipitated by an ongoing downturn in the containerized-ocean-freight and break bulk shipping industries that stymied the profits of both groups and motivated them to unite and endure the decline together. The merged entity is composed of several business clusters each of which is managed by one or more subsidiaries. Its core business cluster is container, dry-bulk, and petroleum transport services.
As of 2016, the group's total fleet size ranks first globally, comprising 1114 merchant vessels and a total capacity of 85.32 million DWT. The dry-bulk shipping division ranks first globally, self-owning 365 vessels with a total capacity of 33.52 million DWT. The container shipping division; which is called COSCO Shipping Lines, has a capacity of 1.58 million TEU, making it fourth in the world. Moreover, COSCO Shipping Lines aims to expand its fleet size to over 2 million TEU by 2018, which would make it the third-largest container line in terms of total capacity.
