BERLIN (AP) — German officials say they will enter negotiations with three bidders on the sale of the Hahn regional airport outside Frankfurt — a process that was restarted from scratch after its planned sale to a Chinese company was scrapped last year.

Rhineland-Palatinate state's interior minister, Roger Lewentz, said Monday an evaluation of the bids showed that talks could begin with three of the six suitors who made "concrete offers." He didn't identify any of them but said that new or improved offers could still be considered.

Rhineland-Palatinate planned to sell its 82.5 percent stake in the financially struggling airport to Shanghai Yiqian Trading Company, a logistics and construction company.

But officials canceled the deal in July because a payment wasn't made, and citing wider doubts about the reliability of the purchaser.