We reported in June about China's largest shipping firm, COSCO, and the IPO they floated in Shanghai at the end of June. Now one of the China's leading shipbuilding groups, China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. (CSIC), is looking at an IPO offering later this year According to the China Daily News.

Before the IPO, CSIC plans to merge its 16 separate subsidiaries into an integrated company. CSIC has been around since 1999. It owns some of China's biggest shipyards and some of the largest manufacturers of ship engines in China.

The company is headquartered in Beijing. The China Daily reported that CSIC is planning a to raise roughly between $800 and $900 million through the sale of Yuan denominated A-shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in December of this year.

China hopes to become the world's largest shipbuilder by 2010. CSIC is looking to expand its shipbuilding capacity to help achieve this goal.