The Central China Airlines Co. Ltd. in central China's Henan Province has become the first civil aviation company in China to name a general manager through public bidding.

Liang Yanlin, 55, was recently selected for the position from among 163 candidates from across the country. He is also chairman of the Yutong Express Transport Co. Ltd. in the province.

His annual salary will be 200,000 yuan (24,000 U.S. dollars), paid by the corporation during his three-year employment.

Central China Airlines, established in 1986, was the first to engage in regional air transportation in China. It has five Boeing 737s, and assets of 1.6 billion yuan (480 million U.S. dollars).

The money-losing airline was formed into a joint stock company in October in collaboration with a local transportation construction investment company and Liang's company.