Okay Airways and Beijing Capital Airlines both won approval to engage in the international cargo business.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China said on its official website on Friday that Okay Airways and Beijing Capital Airlines had been permitted to broaden their cargo business to international flights.

Founded in 2004, Beijing-based Okay Airways is China's first private carrier, and it mainly operates flights from Tianjin Binhai International Airport.

Beijing Capital Airlines was founded in 2010 and is a subsidiary of Hainan Airlines Group.

"Despite fierce industrial competition and weak global demand for cargo, domestic airlines still want to expand to diversify their business," Li Xiaojin, a professor with the Civil Aviation University of China, was quoted as saying by National Business Daily.