Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong airline, has reached an agreement to invest in a Chinese air cargo operation after almost four years of negotiations with its partner, Air China.

Cathay, ultimately controlled by John Swire & Sons of the UK, will pay Rmb1.67bn ($245m) for a 49 per cent stake in Shanghai-based Air China Cargo, complementing its Hong Kong operations serving the Pearl River delta manufacturing region in southern Guangdong province.

“The joint venture will provide the two most important cargo-generating regions on the mainland with two highly competitive and efficient home-based carriers – Cathay in the Pearl River delta and Air China Cargo in the Yangtze River delta [around Shanghai],” Christopher Pratt, chairman of Cathay Pacific, said in a statement.