CHINA Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) said its board of directors had reached agreement on a preliminary decision to acquire China Shipping Terminal Development Co from CSCL's parent company China Shipping Group, Xinhua reported.

The decision is in line with CSCL's plan which was announced at its Shanghai IPO in December last year, to use about CNY2 billion (US$280 million) of the IPO proceeds to buy assets related to its core business, a company statement of CSCL said.

Details of the deal have not been released.

China Shipping Terminal Development, a fully-owned terminal operating subsidiary of China Shipping Group, recorded a core operating income of CNY468.3 million last year.