China Eastern backs SkyTeam partnership

SHANGHAI - China Eastern Airlines said on Friday it would sign a memorandum of understanding to join global airline alliance SkyTeam.

"What we have signed is a preliminary agreement. And after a year when China Eastern fulfils all the requirements of SkyTeam, we will become its official member," Luo Zhuping, company board secretary, told China Daily.

The Shanghai-listed airlines had been the only one of China's top three carriers not to be a member of any global alliance.