Ministry of Commerce Blocks Bid by Foreign Shippers to Form Alliance

(Beijing) – Chinese regulators have rejected a proposal by the world's largest shipping companies to form an alliance, after their European and U.S. counterparts approved it.

The Ministry of Commerce said on June 17 it would not give its approval for the P3 Network, which would have seen Denmark's A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, Switzerland-based Mediterranean Shipping Co. S.A. and France's CMA CGM SA form an alliance. The deal would hurt competition, the ministry said.