SHANGHAI (AFP) - China Southern Airlines said Thursday it had shelved a proposed cargo joint venture with Air France due to shrinking demand resulting from the economic slowdown.

The company, China's biggest carrier by fleet size, has no timetable for when the plan might proceed, said a company official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"It is not a good timing for corporate expansion, due to the economic downturn," he said.

China Southern Airlines said in June last year it had agreed to set up a cargo transportation joint venture with Air Bleu Limited, part of the Air France-KLM Group.

Under the proposal, China Southern would have a 75 percent stake in the venture while Air Bleu would own 25 percent.

Chinese airlines, including China Southern, met strong headwinds last year as a series of natural disasters and a slowing economy hurt demand for air travel.

Cargo transportation volume grew only 0.3 percent to 4.03 million tonnes in 2008, ending years of double-digit growth, according to figures from the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

In the first three months of 2009, cargo volume dropped 13.5 percent from a year earlier, it said.