IN BRIEF (Page 10)

Okay Air to fly again

The Civil Aviation Administration of China has approved a bid by Okay Airways, China's first private airline, to resume passenger services from Jan 24.

The Tianjin-based carrier, which suspended service last month due to an internal management dispute, said on Friday that it would resume 11 routes from Jan 24 and all of its service from Feb 1.

AirAsia expansion

AirAsia, the largest low-cost airline in Asia, said it plans to fly between Tianjin and Kuala Lumpur in April and to further expand to Southwest China in 2010. The carrier said it witnessed a rising volume of business travelers as companies cut travel expenditures due to the financial crisis.

China Unicom profit up

China Unicom, the country's second-biggest mobile-phone company, said full year profit for 2008 may increase by more than 50 percent on accounting changes after its acquisition of China Netcom Group Corp.

The higher profit is also a result of gains from the sale of its CDMA mobile-phone business, China Unicom said.

Chongqing branch

Sun Life Everbright, a 50-50 joint venture between Canada's Sun Life Financial and China's Everbright Group, has received approval from the insurance regulator to open a Chongqing branch.

"Chongqing will serve as the bridgehead in exploring the western areas," said Zhang Jingchen, president of the company.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily 01/24/2009 page10)