China Reports Progress in Civil Aviation Industry

China has experienced progress in its civil aviation industry through sustained efforts made in the past two decades.

In terms of total volume of civil aviation transport turnover, China has moved to 10th place in the world now from 35th in 1980, and the country is now in seventh placed in terms of volume of passenger turnover, compared to being 33rd in 1980, said sources from a recent international forum on China's reform in basic sectors, held in Haikou, capital of Hainan Province.

Aviation companies and airports are now operating separately and relevant management systems have also been introduced. The country is now blessed with the establishment of six trans-regional civil aviation administrative organizations, six major trans-regional airlines and 17 local airways, said the sources.

Restructuring has helped bring the enthusiasm of different locations in developing civil aviation into full play. In 1992, a civil aviation conglomerate with Air China, China Eastern Airlines, and China Southern Airlines as core members was formed. When China Eastern Airlines took over a local company, a group of local airline companies came together into a "new star" federation.

Since China introduced the reform and open-up drive in 1978, China has witnessed sustained growth in the volume of air transport, and the improvement in civil aviation transporting capacities.

By late 1998, Chinese airways had operated 131 international air routes and special regional air routes. With these air services, China is now connected to 64 cities from 34 countries.

In the meantime, 57 air companies from 43 countries had also operated air services in 13 Chinese cities.

Major Chinese airways are all equipped with the most advanced airplanes in the world, coupled with the improvement in airports and other supporting infrastructure. There are now 143 operational airports in China.

While stepping up airport construction, China has also stressed the need for supporting air infrastructure, including flight security, plane maintenance and repair and transport service. For instance, 300 Chinese cities and 70 overseas Chinese civil aviation service offices are connected via an air ticket booking computerized system.

In the past 13 years, 39.2 billion yuan (about US$4.72 billion) of investment were pumped into constructing air infrastructure.

Progress has also been made in opening-up drive in the civil aviation sector. From 1980 to 1998, more than 300 planes were leased with funds raised from overseas. Foreign government loans have also been used to expand a dozen Chinese airports and to upgrade other infrastructure.

So far, there are more than 60 overseas-financed civil aviation joint ventures, including two plane maintenance engineering companies in Beijing and Guangzhou.



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