Korean Air said on Wednesday it was in talks with China's Okay Airways on a possible joint venture.

The announcement came after the Korea Economic Daily reported Korean Air was in the final stage of negotiation with Okay Airways to set up a cargo carrier joint venture, targeting booming air cargo demand in China.

"Our company is considering a possible joint venture in China, although nothing has been decided so far," Korean Air said in a filing to the local stock exchange.

"We are in talks with Okay Airways," a company spokesman said. He added it was likely to take months before the talks yielded any results, without elaborating.

Okay Airways, based in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin, is China's first private airline and started flights this year. It has subleased its first two Boeing 737-900s from Korean Air.