State-owned China Merchants Group will expand its oil transport business in the mainland by setting up a joint venture with four of the country's dominant oil suppliers.
It would inject all of its tankers into the venture - China Merchants Energy Transportation - to secure an 82 per cent interest, chief financial officer Li Yinquan said.
China Petrochemical Corp is the second-largest shareholder in the venture, with 16 per cent, while the remaining 2 per cent will be held by China National Offshore Oil Corp, China National Petroleum Corp and China National Chemicals Import and Export Corp.
According to media reports, the joint venture has a registered capital of 2.2 billion yuan with a net asset value of about 6.5 billion yuan.
'We signed the agreement last week in Beijing,' Mr Li said. 'By partnering with the oil companies, we hope to expand our market share of China's oil imports.'
He said the management was looking to list the joint venture to raise about five billion yuan. 'We are considering that option but nothing has been set so far.'
