Sinotrans to buy more assets from parent -chairman

BEIJING, March 4 (Reuters) - China National Foreign Trade Transportation (Group) Corp, the nation's logistics giant, is pushing ahead with plans to sell more assets to its listed unit, Sinotrans Ltd (0598.HK), a senior executive said on Tuesday.

Last October, Sinotrans, a partner of global players such as Deutsche Post's (DPWGn.DE) DHL [DHL.UL] and Korean Air (003490.KS), agreed to buy 1.11 billion yuan ($156.2 million) worth of freight forwarding, shipping agency and warehousing businesses from its state-owned parent.

China National now plans to sell a second batch of assets to Sinotrans and that will fulfil its aim of floating all of its key assets on the market, China National President Zhao Huxiang told Reuters in an interview.

The assets, located in Hunan, Jiangxi and other provinces, will help to fill out Sinotrans' network and enhance efficiency, said Zhao, who is also the chairman of Sinotrans.

He did not give a timeframe for the asset sales although the market generally expects they will take place this year.

He said China National's two Hong Kong-listed units, Sinotrans and Sinotrans Shipping Ltd (0368.HK), would continue to expand via mergers and acquisitions.

Both companies are cash-rich and would not need to raise funds, he added.

Shares of Sinotrans Shipping have fallen 24 percent this year and Sinotrans has dropped 33 percent, underperforming a nearly 20 percent loss in the index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong .HSCE.

Zhao said Sinotrans continued to show good business growth and the U.S. subprime debt crisis had very limited impact on Sinotrans and Sinotrans Shipping. ($1=7.108 Yuan) (Reporting by Ruth Wong; Editing by Edmund Klamann)