Power merger generates energy behemoth

China's largest coal mining company and a major power generator said on Monday their merger was completed, creating the world's largest utility provider by capacity as the country continues to reform its colossal State sector.

Coal producer Shenhua Group and China Guodian Corp, one of the top five State power producers, announced the official merger into a new entity called China Energy Investment Corp. It comes as the country is trying to cut industrial overcapacity and streamline State-owned enterprises.

The merger will create an energy behemoth with combined assets estimated to exceed 1.8 trillion yuan ($271.5 billion) and the fourth-largest Chinese energy sector SOE - after China National Petroleum Corp, the country's largest oil and gas supplier and producer; China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, the world's biggest refiner; and State Grid Corp of China, the nation's electric power giant.