Hainan Airlines is to launch regular flights between China's northern region of Inner Mongolia and Russia next week, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

The new service between Manzhouli and Russia's Chita will operate on Thursdays and Sundays, Xinhua quoted a Manzhouli airport source as saying.

More than 70 percent of trade between China and Russia passes through Manzhouli, China's largest inland port, Xinhua said.

The travel time by plane is estimated at one hour compared with seven hours by car and about 12 hours by train, it said.

Manzhouli airport came into use in 2005, and about 76,000 passengers and 1,100 tonnes of cargo have arrived or departed from the airport so far this year, Xinhua said without giving further details. (Reuters)