China Establishes World's Largest Shipbuilding Group

China on Tuesday formally established China Shipbuilding Group, which the country's government-run broadcaster described as the world's largest shipbuilder.

The group's establishment, reported by China Central Television (CCTV), comes after Beijing last month approved the merger of the country's two largest shipbuilders, China State Shipbuilding Corp and China Shipbuilding Industry Co.

The group has 147 research institutes, business units and listed firms, as well as total assets of 790 billion yuan ($112 billion) and 310,000 workers, CCTV said. Its products range from aircraft carriers to commercial ships that carry oil and gas.

China has sought to streamline its state sector through mergers and asset restructuring to tackle rising debt and to make them more profitable and responsive to market forces.

Its shipbuilding industry competes with that of South Korea and Japan.

($1 = 7.0389 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Himani Sarkar)