SHANGHAI, Jan 4 (Reuters) – China Ocean Shipping Group Co (COSCO) and China Shipping Group Co will develop into a brand new entity after merging, led by the latter’s present chairman, China’s state-owned property regulator stated on Monday.

The former rivals stated in December they’d merge by way of a collection of asset swaps, creating items centered on distinct enterprise areas resembling container delivery and vessel leasing.

Together, COSCO and China Shipping management 488 billion yuan ($74.7 billion) value of property, Barclays analysts estimated.

After the merger, the ensuing, newly established firm will probably be chaired by Xu Lirong, the State-Owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission stated on its official microblog.

The merger comes as the federal government strikes to consolidate state-owned industries.

($1 = 6.5340 yuan) (Reporting by John Ruwitch and Brenda Goh; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

Copyright(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.