China Duty Free Group's parent merges to form Chinese travel giant
China International Travel Service (CITS), the parent of China Duty Free Group, has merged with China National Travel Service. The state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (CSRC) said in a statement that CITS was no longer under its control and was now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China National Travel Service. Financial information company aastocks.com estimates the assets of the newly-merged firm to be in excess of RMB 120bn ($18bn), creating a new tourism super group in China. This will add clout to the already highly-profitable China Duty Free Group as it looks to expand domestically and abroad.

CHINA. China Duty Free Group’s parent organisation, China International Travel Service (CITS) has been merged with China National Travel Service (HK), according to a statement yesterday from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (CSRC).

In a short statement, the CSRC said that CITS is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the China National Travel Service (HK) and no longer under CSRC control.

State-owned China National Travel Service (HK) Group describes itself as China’s largest travel group. Its shares surged by +9.2% this morning following the announcement.

Financial markets media aastocks.com reckoned the asset scale of the new firm will be at least RMB120 billion (US$18 billion), creating a new tourism super group in China.

That should make the highly profitable and expansion-minded China Duty Free Group even more powerful as it seeks to develop its operations both in Mainland China and beyond.