By Jin Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-03 15:05

In the most recent turn of events in an ongoing spat, China Eastern Airlines said today that a query by China National Aviation Holding Corp (CNAHC) for Eastern's sales deal with Singapore Airlines is "lacking in objectivity."

A formal two-page statement released by China Eastern at 4 am this morning said that CNAHC is primarily a competitor, and although it is also a major shareholder, CNAHC’s concern was not representative of other China Eastern shareholders.

China Eastern emphasized that the company has not received any kind of cooperation proposal from other suitors.

In addition, China Eastern said it believes the sales price of HK$3.8 to be reasonable because the price is a result of long-term negotiation with Singapore Airlines. The price represents a 35.7 percent premium to the average H-share price from April 22 to May 21.

China National Aviation said in an earlier statement that the conditions China Eastern had granted to Singapore Airlines and Temasek Holdings were unfair to other shareholders and are obstructing industry development.

In response, China Eastern then said that the main clauses of the proposal were in accordance with international conventions, and will not obstruct China Eastern’s further cooperation with domestic airlines.

The parent company of Air China and owner of a 12.07 percent stake in China Eastern, CNAHC said on Monday that an offer by Singapore Airlines Ltd for a stake in China Eastern Airlines Corp did not reflect fair value of the Shanghai-based airline. It also claimed to reserve the rights to make a counter-proposal.

CNAHC further requested that China Eastern and the bidders present a better proposal.

The CNAHC statement comes after the appointment of Li Jiaxiang, chairman of Air China and its parent company, last Friday as the new head of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China, China's aviation watchdog.