China Ocean Shipping Company, China's First International Shipping Enterprise, is Established on April 27, 1961

The Yuanwang 3, the first generation of space tracking ships in China, goes into service on April 27, 1995. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

China Ocean Shipping Company, China's first international shipping enterprise, is established on April 27, 1961

China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), the first international shipping enterprise to emerge after the founding of the People's Republic of China, was established on April 27, 1961.

On the second day of its establishment, Guanghua left port, marking the first ocean shipping in China since 1949.

On Jan 4, 2016, the State Council approved the merger of COSCO and China Shipping into China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited.

By Feb 28, 2019, COSCO SHIPPING was comprised of 1,274 vessels with a capacity of 101.95 million DWT, the largest organization of its kind in the world.

The Yuanwang 3, a new generation of space tracking ship in China, begins service on April 27, 1995

The Yuanwang 3, the second generation of space tracking ship since the founding of the People's Republic of China, began service on April 27, 1995.

The ship was designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited and was mainly used for marine measurement and control missions for flight tests of satellites, spaceships and other spacecraft.

The ship was equipped with a lot of advanced 1990s technology relevant to shipbuilding, machinery, electronic techniques, meteorological observation and communications as well as computer science.

The ship had a full-load displacement of more than 10,000 tons and was able to travel as far as 18,000 sea miles.

(Executive editor: Li Shuling)