Xu Lirong is the man to steer the merged Cosco and China Shipping, Beijing announced today.
Xu led the cross-company working group of five executives that organised the creation of the combined vehicle boasting $74.7bn in assets.
He was previously chairman of China Shipping but has also held a number of top positions in Cosco companies, including the chairmanship of both Cosco Pacific and Cosco Shipping.
According to his Bloomberg profile, he has also chaired Cosco Europe, Cosco Americas and Cosco Container Lines.
Xu joined China Shipping in 2011 as president and later replaced the retiring Li Shao as head of the company.
Cosco and China Shipping confirmed the long-awaited merger last month.
The deal will create four pure play public companies listed in Hong Kong and see the dry cargo division taken private.
Over Christmas the group revealed the bulker arm is expected to suffer from negative cash flow until 2019.
