Ctrip, China Eastern parent ink cooperative agreement

The parent company of China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd on Thursday announced a non-public issuance of shares, in which 3 billion yuan worth of the shares will be subscribed by Chinese online travel agency Ctrip.com International Ltd. Next, the travel agency will boost its shareholding in China Eastern.

China Eastern Air Holding Company, the parent company, inked an all-around strategic cooperation agreement with the nation’s largest online travel agency on Thursday, and on the same date, trading of the carrier on the Shanghai Stock Exchange was suspended in accordance with the bourse's rules.

The two parties vowed to explore cooperation in the fields including tourism products，low-cost aviation, IT, e-commerce, equity and capital markets.

"This cooperation will greatly enhance our competitiveness within the tourism industry chain," said Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Eastern.

China Eastern reportedly was to get approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission in January for issuing non-public A-shares with a maximum value of 15 billion yuan to up to 10 unrelated investors at a price of 6.44 yuan per share.