The Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed shipping division of the state giant said earnings have been boosted by higher revenue and lower costs.

For 2013, the company logged a CNY 235.5m ($37.88m) profit, a huge upswing from the CNY 9.6bn deficit for the previous 12-month period.

On Monday, Cosco chairman Ma Zehua said the overall group had returned to profit for 2014, after three years of losses.

The