Maersk and CIMC Wetrans Establish Tianjin Container Depot Joint Venture
Tianjin Xinglian Logistics has registered capital of RMB30 million. Maersk Hong Kong owns 51% and CIMC Wetrans 49%, with container-depot services as the venture's primary focus.
Tianjin Xinglian Logistics Service Co., Ltd. was incorporated on 20 September with registered capital of RMB30 million, according to public corporate-registration records. Maersk Logistics & Services (Hong Kong) Limited holds 51%, while CIMC Wetrans Logistics Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. owns the remaining 49%.
A simplified merger-control filing published by the Beijing Administration for Market Regulation said the joint venture will focus primarily on container-depot services and may later provide a limited amount of ancillary international ocean-freight forwarding. Despite Maersk Hong Kong’s 51% equity interest, the filing states that the two shareholders will jointly control the company for the purposes of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law.
The transaction was published for consultation on 30 July and received unconditional approval on 14 August. CIMC Group’s 2026 interim report subsequently said CIMC Wetrans was expanding its port-logistics network and that a Tianjin depot jointly established with a shipping line was nearing start-up. The incorporation of Xinglian Logistics provides the operating project with a legal entity.
The company’s registered business scope is broad, covering road freight, domestic and international freight forwarding, warehousing, customs declaration, non-vessel-operating common-carrier services, container transport and leasing. Public disclosures have not yet identified the depot’s exact location, site area, designed throughput, asset-contribution structure or formal start-up date.
The partnership brings together Maersk’s liner, container-management and integrated-logistics network with CIMC Wetrans’ experience in container depots, freight forwarding and port logistics. Operationally, the structure could better connect carrier box-management requirements with local depot activity, strengthening coordination across empty-container positioning, yard operations and landside transport.
The merger filing placed CIMC Wetrans’ 2025 share of container-depot services in the Tianjin port area at 5% to 10%. Maersk affiliates had the same 5% to 10% range in international container liner services on routes originating or terminating in Tianjin. In China’s 2024 international ocean-freight-forwarding market, the respective ranges were 0% to 5% for Maersk affiliates and 5% to 10% for CIMC Wetrans.
Tianjin port handled 24.0329 million TEU in 2025, up 3.2%, while its container-route network expanded to 150 services. The growing cargo base and route coverage are increasing demand for empty-container circulation, port drayage and depot coordination, providing the commercial backdrop for the new venture.