The assets include stakes in more than a dozen airlines, led by its flagship firm Hainan Airlines, China's fourth-biggest carrier and the largest one that is not state-owned.

The airlines have more than 500 narrowbody planes and 100 widebody aircraft, according to data from industry publication Leeham News and Analysis.

1. Hainan Airlines

Headquarters: Haikou

Fleet size: 220 planes

2. Tianjin Airlines

Headquarters: Tianjin

Fleet size: 97 planes

3. Capital Airlines

Headquarters: Beijing

Fleet size: 85 planes

4. Lucky Air

Headquarters: Kunming

Fleet size: 53 planes

5. China West Air

Headquarters: Chongqing

Fleet size: 35 planes

6. Hong Kong Airlines

Headquarters: Hong Kong

Fleet size: 28 planes

7. Guangxi Beibu Gulf Airlines

Headquarters: Nanning

Fleet size: 27 planes

8. Fuzhou Air

Headquarters: Fuzhou

Fleet size: 16 planes

10. Urumqi Air

Headquarters: Urumqi

Fleet size: 15 planes

11. Suparna Airlines (formerly Yangtze River Express)

Headquarters: Shanghai

Fleet size: 11 planes

12. Air Changan

Headquarters: Xian

Fleet size: 11 planes

13. Air Guilin

Headquarters: Guilin

Fleet size: 11 planes

14. Africa World Airlines

Headquarters: Accra, Ghana

Fleet size: 8 planes

15. China Grand Air (formerly China Xinhua Air)

Headquarters: Haikou

Fleet size: 3 planes

16. Deer Jet (private jets for charter)

Headquarters: Beijing

Fleet size: 3 planes

(Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)