On Wednesday, Air Canada and Air China agreed to a joint venture, the first such agreement between North American and Chinese carriers. Over the next six months, they will increase commercial cooperation on flights between Canada and China and on domestic connections within their respective countries. That includes optimizing flight schedules, aligning fare products and embarking on joint corporate sales and marketing. Air Canada and Air China have been deepening their partnership in recent years and operate as many as 52 flights per week between Canada—Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto—and China—Beijing and Shanghai. In May, the carriers expanded their codesharing, and late last year, they expanded their reciprocal lounge access agreement.