China Railway Corp. (CRC), the state railway operator, sold 15% of its cargo transportation subsidiary to six investors as part of a push for state-owned enterprise reform that may lead to a public listing of the unit.

CRC said Friday that it completed the 2.4 billion yuan ($354 million) sale of the stake in China Railway Special Cargo Services Co. Ltd. to investors including Dongfeng Motor Corp., BAIC Group, CRRC Capital Management Co., JD Logistic, Global Logistic Properties Ltd. and China International Marine Containers Group.

CRC put the 15% interest in China Railway Special Cargo up for sale on the Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange in December as part of CRC’s efforts to push forward a mixed-ownership reform. China Railway Special Cargo revealed plans to optimize its shareholding structure for an initial public offering this year, according to a company filing.

China Railway Special Cargo’s business mainly focuses on automobile shipping and other cargo transport. As of June 30, the net assets of China Railway Special Cargo totaled about 14.7 billion yuan with liability of 914 million yuan.

Business registration records showed that China Railway Special Cargo has reduced its registered capital to 4 billion yuan from 18.4 billion yuan as of Jan. 9, as the company moves to meet shareholding reform and listing rules.