BEIJING, Dec. 20 -- China vowed on Saturday to make more efforts to support the development of civil aviation in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a guideline that it will improve aviation infrastructures in Xinjiang by supporting expansion of established airports and construction of new ones.

The CAAC will speed up preliminary study of a new airport in Urumqi, capital of the region. It also backed the city to apply for 72-hour visa-free entry for international transit passengers.

In addition, the administration encouraged airlines to operate more routes connecting Xinjiang cities with China's eastern areas as well as foreign countries.

Xinjiang currently has 16 civil airports, with 46 domestic and foreign airlines operating 184 routes. It has the most airports and longest airways among China's provincial-level regions.

From January to November, Xinjiang saw 238,000 civil flights and throughput of over 20 million passengers and 163,000 tonnes of cargo and mail, up 20.5 percent, 9.8 percent and 8.8 percent year on year, respectively.