CHINA

Foreign Investment in Airlines to Be Allowed: China will allow foreign airlines to invest in Chinese airlines this year, an official report said. “We will select at least one or two of our airlines for cooperation with foreigners this year,” Wang Xuejiang, deputy director general of the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s policy department, was quoted as saying. The report in the China Daily’s Business Weekly said foreign airlines would be allowed to buy shares of domestic airlines, but did not give any other details. The move is motivated by the need for large amounts of capital to keep up with China’s growing aviation demands, the report said. China expects 13% increases this year in passenger and freight traffic, to 38 billion passengers and 800,000 tons of freight.