China Tourism Group Corporation was officially established with the merger of two State-owned enterprises (SOEs) on Aug. 3rd, 2016. The new company has become China’s largest tourism SOE under the direct leadership of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
Last month, the commission announced that China International Travel Service (CITS) was no longer under its supervision because CITS became a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation (HKCTS). The general manager assistant, Zheng Jiang, said that the business scopes of the two companies complement each other as HKCTS focuses on food, hotels and traveling, while CITS focuses on duty free shopping and travel services. The new company will strive to become the top tourism company in China in the next few years, with the ultimate goal of becoming one of the world’s top 500 companies, said Zheng.