The chairman of Xiamen Airlines says that he started thinking about how State-owned enterprises can increase their vitality and become stronger after listening to government work report from Premier Li Keqiang at the opening of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), in Beijing.

Che Shanglun made the comment at the NPC's second session, on March 6, where he explained, "State-owned enterprises should stick to reforms and innovation for vigorous development," and added that he got further ideas from President Xi Jinping during his visit to Xiamen Airlines as governor of Fujian province, where he said that Xiamen Airlines' development came from its reforms, input, service, and people-oriented approach.

Che went on to explain, "This was not just Xi's hope for Xiamen Airlines, but the direction State-owned enterprises should take, and it made us more determined to stick to our own developmental path for stable growth."

Xiamen Airlines has been running a profit for 27 years in a row thanks to its reforms and innovation. It added 15 new aircraft, last year, for a total of 101, and opened 10 international routes. It also benefited from more frequent exchanges with Taiwan, Che explained, as well as Xiamen government and Fujian provincial policies.

Xiamen Airlines will continue its innovations, he said, and management reforms to build a network centered on Xiamen and Fuzhou to develop the west coast of Taiwan Straits.

Xiamen Airlines is partly owned by the C&D Group, which holds a 40-percent stake.

By Yang Jie from China Daily Fujian Bureau, and Zhao Qian

Edited by Roger Bradshaw