BEIJING, Jan. 21 -- China COSCO Holdings Co. Ltd, the country's largest shipper, announced on Tuesday that it saw a profit turnaround in 2013 after suffering heavy losses in two consecutive years.

"Although no significant changes were seen in the global shipping industry, COSCO took various measures to return to profitability," said Sun Jiakang, vice general manager of the company, after getting the results of preliminary calculations on COSCO's 2013 performance.

The Shanghai-listed company made cutting operational costs a major task for 2013.

After COSCO's official profit report is released, the firm will file an application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for the removal of delisting risk warnings, Sun disclosed.

China COSCO lost 9.56 billion yuan (1.57 billion U.S. dollars ) in 2012 after a deficit of 10.45 billion yuan for 2011. If COSCO records another loss in 2013, it risks being delisted from the stock market.