'There's not much difference between domestic airlines in terms of management expertise and branding,' Mr Li told a news conference after China Eastern shareholders rejected a proposal for Singapore Airlines to buy a 24 per cent stake in his company for US$920 million (S$1.32 billion).

'In this case, one and one would not equal more than two.' The parent company of Air China has said it is prepared to offer a higher price for an equity alliance with China Eastern within two weeks of the shareholder meeting.

But if it does this, 'I will say 'no'", Mr Li said. He added: 'Pricing is not the only thing that matters.' He said the management of China Eastern was determined to continue pushing for the Singapore deal.

'I'm not prepared to see it fail,' he said, adding that the governments of both China and Singapore supported the deal, and that communications between the two companies remained good.

'I do not think Singapore Airlines will run away,' he said. -- REUTERS

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