Air France is in talks with China Southern Airlines to extend its reach in China by establishing code-share connections via Guangzhou and Beijing to 14 Chinese cities by the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The cities will include Wuhan, Dalian, Nanjing, Kunming and Changchun, said Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Air France-KLM's chairman and chief executive officer in an interview to the newspaper.

"We have a list of 14 cities where we think there's a real market potential for us," he said.