World's largest shipbuilder unveiled in Beijing

China Shipbuilding Corp, the world's largest shipbuilder, was officially unveiled in Beijing on Tuesday.

The conglomerate was set up on Oct 14 in Beijing through the merger of China State Shipbuilding Corp and China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, China's two biggest shipbuilders by production capacity, and has about 310,000 employees, 147 subsidiaries, including institutes and manufacturing complexes, and total assets of 790 billion yuan ($112 billion), according to a statement it published on Tuesday.

The merger was approved by the State Council's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The statement said China Shipbuilding Corp "will uphold the national strategies about building strong marine and manufacturing industries, boosting science and technology, developing the military into a world-class force, and transforming the company itself into a top-tier enterprise".

"We will strive to become a top-class shipbuilder with competitive edge in the global market," it added.

The two companies that were merged were set up in 1999 when the former China State Shipbuilding Corp was split up, and were headquartered in Beijing.

China State Shipbuilding Corp's major assets were in southern parts of China, while those run by China Shipbuilding Industry Corp were mainly in the north of the country.