COSCO Shipping Holdings, a subsidiary of China Ocean Shipping Company, has received regulatory approval to raise RMB 15 billion (USD 2.1 billion) intended to repay debt.

The subsidiary of China’s largest integrated shipping company said that China’s National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors (NAFMII) approved the company’s request for registration and issue of the medium-term notes amounting to RMB 5 billion and the super and short-term commercial paper amounting to RMB 10 billion.

COSCO Shipping said that the registration of its super and short-term commercial paper would be valid for a period of two years from the date of the notice.

China Merchants Bank, Agricultural Bank of China Limited and China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited have been names as joint lead underwriters.

The issuance may be split into several tranches during the said period.