On November 21, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council convened a meeting to advance the specialized integration of central enterprises and held a signing ceremony for key projects. A total of 17 companies, divided into eight groups, participated in the centralized signing of key projects across two batches. These projects primarily involved critical sectors such as new materials, artificial intelligence, cruise operations, inspection and testing, and aviation logistics.
Specialized integration refers to the process through which enterprises break down corporate boundaries and consolidate resources toward advantaged and core businesses by means of asset restructuring, equity cooperation, asset swaps, non-compensated transfers, and strategic alliances. Advancing specialized integration is of great significance for promoting the high-quality development of central enterprises and optimizing the layout and structure of the state-owned economy.
The specialized integration projects signed this time not only focus on accelerating breakthroughs in key core technologies and strengthening strategic emerging industries but also aim to continuously integrate high-quality resources, deepen the integration of technological and industrial innovation, and foster the scaling-up of emerging industries. Additionally, they seek to optimize and upgrade traditional industries by leveraging the industrial strengths of all parties involved to facilitate the high-quality development of key industrial chains.
Among the signed projects, China Travel International Group Hong Kong Limited took the lead in establishing a central enterprise cruise operation platform company. Following this specialized integration, the platform's fleet size has become the largest in Asia.
According to informed sources, the entity of this central enterprise cruise operation platform company is China International Cruise Co., Ltd., established at the end of 2023. Nominally, it will uniformly operate the cruise ships currently controlled by four central enterprises: China Travel International Group Hong Kong Limited, China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, China Merchants Group, and China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited. However, in practice, each cruise brand will continue to operate independently.
It is understood that China International Cruise Co., Ltd. was established on December 29, 2023, and officially registered on January 26, 2024, with a registered capital of 8.5 billion yuan. The company was formed by SASAC and jointly funded by six state-owned enterprises. The shareholders include China Travel International Group Hong Kong Limited (holding a 35.29% stake), China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (17.65%), China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings Co., Ltd. (17.65%), Jinjiang International Group (11.76%), Shanghai Wusongkou Cultural Tourism Investment Group (11.76%), and Shanghai Jiushi Group (5.88%). The company is headquartered in Baoshan District, Shanghai. As a central enterprise platform for cruise operations, China International Cruise Co., Ltd. will use Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal as its home port while also cooperating with ports in Xiamen, Hainan, and other locations. Its main operations include international liner shipping and tourism services.
Li Ming, General Manager of China International Cruise Co., Ltd., pointed out that the ripple effects of the cruise industry are extremely significant, with an industry multiplier coefficient as high as 1:10 to 1:14. This means that for every 1 yuan of revenue generated by the cruise industry, it can drive 10 to 14 yuan in economic benefits for upstream and downstream related industries.
A relevant official from SASAC emphasized that specialized integration must align with future trends in the industry and technology, adhere to a long-term perspective, and resolutely avoid the pursuit of short-term scale through irrelevant diversification or disorderly expansion. Integration should anchor on "high-end" development, with the consolidation of similar business types as a key task, to eliminate low-level redundant construction and enhance overall efficiency and effectiveness.
