Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) on Wednesday called for better technological and business collaboration among major global airports in an effort to inject vitality into the global aviation market and propel regional integration and cooperation forward.

“The civil aviation industry has ushered in rapid development thanks to globalization. In order to improve airports’ competitiveness and sustainable development, it is necessary to carry out communication and cooperation among major international airports,” said BCIA Chairman Liu Xuesong during the Beijing Global Friend Airport CEO Forum, which was initiated by BCIA and has been successfully held for six sessions.

The civil aviation industry gained its status as “an important strategic industry for economic and social development for China” in 2012. Since then, building world-class airports has become a major concern for China’s economic development. According to BCIA’s report, a new international airport is expected to be built in Beijing in 2019, and will serve as an engine for collaborative development in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as for the construction of Xiong’an New Area.

Currently, there are many cities in the world that possess two airports with total throughput and international throughput ranking top 50 worldwide, including London, New York, Paris, and Tokyo. Better international cooperation, especially within the field of international management and innovation, will help Beijing to become another city that has “twin-hub” airports.

In addition to leading global airport cooperation, Chinese airports have also participated in making industry standards and producing professional reports that can reshape the global aviation industry. For instance, the Global Airport Group Development Research Report, which was drafted by Capital Airports Holding Company and Civil Aviation University of China in 2016, aims to hone the terminology related to airports and its management.

At present, China is the world’s second largest aviation market, and may become the largest in the next 20 years. Taking the lead to create a large-scale international aviation hub, as well as international airport cooperation, BCIA may provide powerful force for China’s social and economic development, said an official from the company.