China's State Council plans to merge China State Shipbuilding Corp., or CSSC, and China Shipbuilding Industry Company Ltd, or CSIC, the country's two biggest shipbuilders, Bloomberg News reported, citing "people with knowledge of the matter."

The details of the possible merger, which has the Chinese government's preliminary approval, still need to be worked out by the government and regulators. The two entities, which have collective revenue of at least 508 billion yuan, are engaged in a range of manufacturing from aircraft carriers for China's navy to vessels to carry containers, oil and gas for commercial companies.

Should the merger take place, the combined company would have more than twice the combined annual revenue of South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co., which are the world's three largest shipbuilders by market value.

State owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, CSSC and CSIC did not respond to Bloomberg's request for comments.

As of March 29, US$1 was equivalent to 6.29 Chinese yuan.