An executive director of China COSCO Holdings Co Ltd, the listing arm of China Ocean Shipping (Group) Co - COSCO - the nation’s largest shipping company, is under investigation by the relevant regulatory body, the company said.

The probe into Xu Minjie will not impose any significant effect on the Tianjin-based company and its operations, according to a filing China COSCO Holdings made to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday.

Born in 1958, Xu was also executive vice-president of COSCO.

China COSCO Holdings said last month that its third quarter net loss narrowed to 1.04 billion yuan ($169 million) from 1.53 billion yuan a year earlier.

The slump in global shipping demand and a supply glut in the industry has resulted in two years of losses for China COSCO Holdings.

If the company cannot return to profit this year it may be delisted from the main board.