A year ago, the main question about China’s state shipping consolidation may have been whether it would overcome institutional reluctance and come true after all.

Now, however, the whip has been given a resounding crack with the publication of a central Communist Party official’s face-to-face confrontation with China’s top shipping leaders, and the main questions are what form the consolidation will take — a total fusion resulting in a SuperCosco, or a sector-by-sector regrouping, possibly starting with containerships — and whether just two companies will be included.

Reform