Following two of China’s shipping conglomerates, Cosco and China Shipping Group’s announcement of a potential merger, another two state-run shipping majors, China Merchants Group and Sinotrans & CSC have also started discussions of a merger deal, Chinese financial media Yicai has reported.

The State-owned Assets Supervision & Administration Commission (SASAC) has given preliminary approval to the potential merger deal and asked the two companies to make the restructuring plan soon for further approvals.

China Merchants Group operates three listed companies including China Merchants International, China Merchants Energy Shipping, and Shenzhen Chiwan Wharf Holdings; while Sinotrans & CSC operates listed companies including Sinotrans Air Development, Sinotrans Limited and Sinotrans Shipping.

CMES and Sinotrans & CSC established joint venture, China VLCC, in 2014. The fleet now comprises 31 tankers.