TOP CHINESE REGULATOR APPOINTED HEAD OF COSCO CONTAINER LINES

   Xu Lirong, president of the Shanghai Shipping Exchange, China’s regulatorary agency, has been appointed managing director of COSCO Container Lines, the liner shipping arm of the China Ocean Shipping Co. group.
    Xu will replace Jin Zhongming, who had been managing director of COSCO Container Lines since 1997.
    Wei Jiafu, president of COSCO group, said that COSCO was recruiting container shipping experts to further upgrade its service and management, and Xu was one of them.
    Captain Xu Lirong, born in 1957, has been president of Shanghai Shipping Exchange since the controversial regulatory agency was established in 1996. Previously, Xu held management positions with COSCO, as deputy general manager of COSCO Shanghai and general manager of COSCO’s international freighting subsidiary.
    The Shanghai Shipping Exchange has not yet announced its next president, according to industry sources in China.
    COSCO Container Lines, headquartered in Shanghai, is currently undergoing major changes in its organization and management methods.