A regulation is being drafted to permit private capital into China's state-owned aviation sector, according to the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

The regulation will be sent to the State Council for revision in March, said Yuan Yaohui, an official with CAAC.

The draft will suggest that in capital cities and major tourism cities, the state-owned shares of airports should be more than 51 percent, Yuan said. The regulation for domestic capital will be more open than that for overseas investment issued last year.

China revised the regulation on foreign investment in the civil aviation industry and began to allow more overseas capital, methods and range of investment starting from August 1, 2002.

A private enterprise has just been approved to buy Yichang airport with 600 million yuan (US$75 million), a trial of domestic investment in civil aviation.

China now has 143 airports, mostly state-owned. Rapid economic growth has boosted the pace of airport construction and renovation.

Fund-raising channels vary. Meilan Airport in the island Hainan Province issued H shares last year. Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, has finalized the work for domestic listing.

(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2003)