Kunming Airlines (昆明航空公司) announced that it will launch its first flights in January of next year, according to Kunming media reports.

Kunming Airlines CEO Wang Qingmin (王清民) told reporters that Kunming Airlines is receiving investment from Shenzhen Airlines and will also draw support from the airline's management and IT systems.

Kunming is building what is expected to be China's fourth-largest airport which is expected to drive the city's emergence as the main air hub between China, Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Wang said Kunming Airlines has a 15-year development plan it calls its '3-5-7 Plan', which involves three stages of strategic development. In the airline's first three years (2008-2010) the airline will assemble a fleet of 30-40 planes and establish an extensive flight network throughout Yunnan. During this stage the airline will also establish routes to China's provincial capitals and economically developed cities on the mainland, eventually connecting these cities with major Southeast Asian destinations.

In the following five years (2010-2015) the airline plans on upgrading its fleet to 80-100 planes and establish hubs in Xi'an and Guangzhou while strengthening its trunk and branch routes.

During the seven years after that (2015-2022) Kunming Airlines will expand its fleet to 150-200 planes and establish hubs in Tianjin and Hangzhou and will focus on developing its international reach.

Shenzhen Airline's involvement in Kunming Airlines brings needed credibility to the new airline, which was formally established in 2005. Established in 1993, Shenzhen Airlines has been profitable for the last 14 years and is China's largest privately held airline. Specific terms of Shenzhen Airlines' investment in Kunming Airlines have not been released.

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Tags: aviation, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Kunming Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Tianjin, transportation, travel, Wang Qingmin, Xi'an

Hong Kong-listed Shui On Land announced that it will invest 5 billion yuan (US$695.8 million) in a tourism-focused development project based in the travel hotspot of Shangri-la, located in northwest Yunnan's Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

According to Chinese financial media reports, Shui On has signed an agreement with the Diqing government to develop a plot of land with a total area of 17.73 million square meters – 9.96 million square meters of which it is designating 'protected areas' – into a 'holiday and leisure area'.

The development project, which currently has a planned building area of 760,000 square meters, will be surrounded by a ring of 3.49 million square meters of undeveloped land as a buffer between it and the outside world.

Shui On, known best for its high-end office, residential and commercial projects in Shanghai, Hangzhou and other mainland cities, has been making steady inroads into the Yunnan market.

In September of 2007, the company co-signed an agreement with the Yunnan government in which the two parties vowed to work together to develop Yunnan's bountiful tourism resources. The developer has already signed agreements for major developments on Dianchi's north shore in Kunming as well as in Dali's Haidong New District. In addition to Shangri-la, Shui On has also expressed interest in development projects in Lijiang.

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Tags: Dali, Dianchi Lake, Diqing, Hangzhou, Lijiang, real estate, Shanghai, Shangri-la, Shui On Land, travel

China's national real estate market experienced strong growth in August with property prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities rising 8.2 percent over August 2006, according to a report released by China's National Bureau of Statistics and National Development and Reform Commission. The year-on-year price jump was 0.7 percentage points higher than July and is the fastest increase recorded this year.

The report also noted that Yunnan province is home to two of the fastest growing new residential property markets in the country - Dali and Kunming - in terms of month-to-month price increases. The cities of Hangzhou and Urumqi recorded the fastest growth in new residential prices at 4.7 and 4.0 percent respectively, with the scenic town of Dali coming in third at 2.8 percent. Kunming came in fifth at 1.7 percent, just ahead of Shanghai's 1.6 percent growth.

There are several new residential developments recently completed or currently underway in Dali, especially to the west and north of the old town and at the southern end of Erhai Lake. New residential properties in Kunming are concentrated in the city's north and also in the south, as the city builds two new urban districts south of the Xishan and Guandu districts and prepares to absorb several million more residents in the next few years.

Tags: business, Dali, Hangzhou, real estate, Urumqi