Strategic Reformation Creates the New Capital Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company

Preface: Creation is the soul of development for a nation and a country. A nation without the creation spirit is unable to stand among the world nations. So it is to a company.
This time Shippingchina.com introduces a leader of creative spirit and under his ambitious reformation and creation, an enterprise that stops forwarding for many years sales into the shipping blue sea with the broad future and create a new development model for the Chinese shipping industry. He is the caption of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company: Mr. Xu Huixing.

Xu Huixing, General Manager of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company and vice secretary of the Party. A life of 21 years on the sea presents him the unique understanding of shipping industry. From an excellent caption to the present caption of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company, Xu Huixing  leads Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company to fight against the waves and winds with his outstanding sagacity and courage and gains the renascence and continuous development and grandness in the pain and cruel competition of the transition of economic system.
Fight for the renascence and from seeking living to seeking fortune
From the birth of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company is has experienced two great reformations: one is at the end of the 1990s in which she gains the renascence and the second is at the beginning of the 21st century which transfer the former management enterprise into capital control enterprise which realizes the quick development and grandness. And this makes she plays an important character in the special ship management. Two reformations and two destinies are for one same subject: to make Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company larger and stronger. 
J: What is the first time for the reformation of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company? What are the difficulties in front?
Xu Huixing : The most difficult time for Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company is at the end of 1990s when all the shipping field is very depressed and in the mean time Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company also receives the first important change in her life: COSCO has carried out the reformation of shipping system and donates all our advantages to our brother companies, only leaving 92 vessels of old bulk vessels whose average age is 20.9 years called as the “setting sun vessels”. At that time a newspaper mentions, “Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company has picked back a pile of rubbish”.
At that time we are designed as the bulk shipping Transportation Company who operates mainly for the special type vessels. And at that time our special type vessel has no scale and no environment and at the benefit income, before the reformation of the system Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company’s annul income is 8.6 billion and after the reformation there is only 1.47 billion. You can imagine what it is like at that period.
J: How did we get rid of this circumstance?
Xu Huixing: In front of the hardship that we had never met, people of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company doesn’t become discouraged or only blames at the others. She explores with great courage and carries out the reformation to promote the development without any change. Under the great support of the parent company, in Dec. of 1999 Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company composes the COSCO Shipping Co., Ltd. together with brother companies such Guangzhou China Cargo, Shenzhen Ocean Shipping Company and so on with 25 vessels as the capital. And it launches as the A Stock in the domestic market in 2002. In 2000 Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company adjusts the strategies of management and development to clarify the thought that “A insist of shipping as the main industry is the only way to save Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company. From 2001 to 2007 Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company continuously starts the department system reformation and ship reorganization of the shipping industry and the reformation of the representative offices, the reformation of seamen’s management and so on, which are carried in great scale and great influence and are deep revolution in the system and mechanism.
At the same time, Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company insists the “two wheels drive”, which is the development strategy of “Running the production management and the capital Management together” and defines the “Special” Strategy to lock the arm at the transportation of special vessel and decides to rewrite the history of special vessels to liberate and develop the production ability of an enterprise. A newly born “New Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company” emerges again within the industrial view sight. Until now, there are 9 shipping companies controlled with the whole capital from the Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company and obtains and manages 135 vessels with 249.8 TEU. The vessel type includes the half-diving vessel, heavy hanging vessel, multi-purpose vessel, roro vessel, timber vessel, pitch vessel, bulk vessel and ordinary bulk vessel. Not only are they well equipped, but also with the world leading scale and it has many leading positions in many professional transportation fields. On the shipping lines from Fareast to Mediterranean Sea, Northwest Europe, to Persia Gulf and so on, it has formed his status of stable, reliable, and competitive preponderant regular ship transportation. The present Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company has transferred itself from the “Setting Sun Fleet” in 1998 with the ordinary bulk vessel as the main part to the bulk vessel fleet with the special vessel of multi-purpose for development. This fleet is with strong ability in creation and has broad future of development and named as the “Setting Sun Fleet”.
J: Since Guangzhou Ocean Shipping has come out of her most difficult times in the history, why we need the reformation for the second time?
Xu Huixing : It should be so. This reformation is a must of the history. It is the inheritance and development of the history in the new times and new situation. The new system and reformation are required for an enterprise to develop. This first reformation makes the people of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company full but it should not only be limited to full but also to eat well.
Fight with two wings and take the production and capital as the same important issues
At the first time of reformation for Guanzhou Ocean Shipping, she is oriented as the “bulk vessel transportation of special purpose” and become one of the world-renowned special vessel transportation companies. The present Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company considers insisting production management and capital management of the same importance on the development thought and tries hard to do better and larger on the “Special point”.
J: How did we carry the second reformation of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company?
Xu Huixing : We sold almost 40 vessels, which we formally managed, to their stock listed COSCO Shipping Company and construct the Guangzhou Ocean Seamen Management Company to manage more than 9000 seamen. Besides it has moved out the pitch transportation vessel operated by the cadre office to construct the new COSCO South Pitch Transportation Co., Ltd. and transports the timber, fresh cargo transportation and related vessels to the Shekou Yuanda Shipping Co., Ltd.
After the reformation, the whole Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company is made up of two levels of framework: One is the part that makes the strategic decisions and capital management and the other is invest and capital control company with the capital operation management as the main operation. The cadre office of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company is as the representative of capital supplier and will carry on the management right according to the law and transfer to the management model of property right one. And make the strategic decision on the macrocosm problems related to the survival and development of a company. The capital management level of sole capital, control capital, share capital company or Model Company are responsible for the capital management and pay back to the investment from the investors. Now we are trying hard to enter the stock listed company to elevate the core competitiveness to make Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company better, larger and stronger.
J: Is Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company still oriented for “bulk vessel transportation of special purpose”?
Xu Huixing: That is right. We are still insisting on this orientation and the present situation we arranged for Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company is “bulk vessel transportation of special purpose”.
J: Why you fix this orientation?
Xu Huixing : For example, the proportion of multi-purpose vessels in our fleet is 56% with the profit takes part of the 62% of the whole profit and the bulk vessel who takes 29% of the vessel fleet only takes 3% of the profit. This kind of vessel is hardly to develop. So we enhance the investment force for special vessel. Half-dive vessel, Great Hanging vessel, automobile vessel, timber vessel, pitch vessel and so on. The special transportation vessel fleets are grown up one by one and the development of these fleets gives us the great economic revenue.
Fly on the blue ocean and establish more blue ocean legends
On the forwarding way full of difficulties, people of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company under the leadership of Xu Huixing and his group aim at the new development target of enterprise development and conform the company resources constantly and enhance the investment force and are creating their own blue ocean legend of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company.
J: On the development of special vessel, what are the plans from our company?
Xu Huixing : When we make develop plans we mainly consider from two moronic sides: One is from the company’s long and constant development and the other is from the supplement of the whole nation’s strategy.
For the future special vessel we will enhance the investment input. The special vessel only occupies 22% of the whole company’s fleet. Our aim is to establish a fleet majoring in the special vessels so that we will greatly develop the special vessels such as Half-dive vessel, Great Hanging vessel, automobile vessel, timber vessel, pitch vessel and so on. For one thing is to avoid the periodic change in the shipping field and for the other is to make sure the operation security of national industry development.
J: What is the orientation for future development and strategic orientation?
Xu Huixing : Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company is the birthplace for the New China’s Ocean Shipping and is named as “Cradle of COSCO”, which is the earliest company established by COSCO Group. And it has been the most excellent company of COSCO so that it cannot fail within my hand. Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company must stir herself and make further progress to make her better and stronger.
The whole interview process is completed under an atmosphere of harmony and pleasance. The forthright character shows us not only his confidence and wide-mind and also his determination and courage to the future development of Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company. We could see it is surely that Mr. Xu Huixing  who is on the new “Driving Platform” will definitely make the Guangzhou Ocean Shipping go further, better and we also wish Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Company could fear no winds or waves fighting on the blue sea！

Journalist: Betty Chen