Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is in talks with carriers including Air China and China Southern Airlines to lease aircraft, vice president of the bank said today in Shanghai.

"We are in talks with more airlines in the aircraft leasing business," Li Xiaopeng, vice president of the Beijing-based bank, said yesterday in Shanghai.

The bank yesterday teamed up with China Eastern Airlines to lease three Airbus A340 planes worth 1.3 billion yuan (US$190 million) to the Shanghai-based carrier for six years.

The bank has signed similar financial leasing deals with Shenzhen Airlines on four planes.

ICBC's financial leasing arm has assets worth 5 billion yuan. The country's biggest bank set up the financial leasing firm with a registered capital of 2 billion yuan last year.

The leasing company, registered in Tianjin, will focus on aviation, shipping and other big equipment for global and domestic clients.

The central government has encouraged more qualified banks to step into the financial leasing business.

The financial leasing industry has been in China for two decades, but has yet to take off.

Last year, rules were revised on financial leasing companies. New firms are required to have a minimum capital of 100 million yuan and with major shareholders from qualified financial players.