American Airlines (AA) has agreed to pay USD200 million for a stake in China Southern Airlines, the country’s biggest carrier by passenger volume, in a bid for a bigger share of China’s growing travel market. The deal represents 2.76% of China Southern’s shares and requires regulatory approval. Foreign carriers are forging steadily closer ties with Chinese airlines to gain a bigger share of China’s air travel market, which is growing strongly while travel in Europe and north America is leveling off. In exchange, Chinese carriers get access to experience and management skills. China is forecast to pass North America over the next two decades as the biggest air travel market. Chinese spending on air travel rose 10.6% in 2015, compared with 1.7% in the United States, according to the International Air Travel Association (IATA). Two years ago, Delta Air Lines paid USD450 million for 3.55% of China Eastern Airlines. The third major U.S. carrier, United Airlines, has a partnership with Air China, the third major Chinese state-owned airline. Guangzhou-based China Southern says it operates more than 2,000 flights a day to 224 destinations in 40 countries and regions. It carried 115 million passengers in 2016. American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, says it operates 6,700 flights a day to nearly 350 destinations in over 50 countries, the Shanghai Daily reports.