Lloyd’s List reported that Shanghai International Port Group has formed a domestic shipping subsidiary with total assets of around Rmb10bn. Eighteen of the group’s domestic shipping affiliates will be merged into the new subsidiary, including Shanghai Jihai Shipping, Chongqing East Port Container Terminal, Wuhan Port Group and Sichuan Yibin Port.

The subsidiary will be mainly engaged in domestic shipping, logistics, ship brokerage and warehousing. Its businesses will cover major ports along the Yangtze River but it also plans to develop logistics parks and warehouses at some of the ports, SIPG said.

Last October, SIPG president Chen Xuyuan said the company was looking to consolidate its operations under one company so as to provide a more efficient service to its customers on the Yangtze.

SIPG is a listed company and one of the most dynamic and open-minded port operators in China. In addition to its presence in its home city of Shanghai, SIPG has been looking to increase the proportion of transit cargo in its total throughput by searching for new freight sources in the industrial heartlands of central and western China. Investing in major Yangtze port cities is an integral part of this policy.

On 28 May, China Securities Journal reported that SIPG had invested €27.16m to acquire a 25 per cent stake in Belgium’s Zeebrugge terminal. Previously, the port was wholly-owned by Maersk’s APM Terminals.