Dong Zhiyi:

Ladies and gentlemen, friends from the media, Mr. Xu just now introduced the overall development of the transport sector since the 18th CPC National Congress, and now I would like to make a supplementary briefing on the development of civil aviation from four aspects.

First, civil aviation transportation has grown rapidly in scale. In the past decade, 82 civil airports have been built or relocated, bringing the total to 250; 3,000 new air routes have been added, bringing the total to 5,581. China has been in the top two in the world in terms of passenger traffic for 18 consecutive years. In 2019, the total turnover and passenger volume of civil aviation transportation more than doubled compared with 2012, and the volume of cargo and mail transportation was 1.3 times that in 2012. The air service network has covered 92% of prefecture-level administrative units, where 88% of China's population and 93% of China's economy is sustained.

Second, civil aviation services have been improved in quality and efficiency. The on-time flight rate has increased by 13.17 percentage points compared with 2012 and exceeded 80% for four consecutive years. The service model, featuring an interconnected civil aviation network integrating trunk lines, regional lines, and short-distance transportation of general aviation, has been implemented to promote flight services, especially to stimulate potential market demand in third- and fourth-tier cities. The proportion of passenger throughput of airports in central and western China in the whole industry has increased from 36.5% in 2012 to 45.2% in 2021. Forty-seven new transportation airports have been built in areas lifted out of poverty, with air services covering 83.6% of those same regions, an increase of 13 percentage points over 2012.

Third, civil aviation has played a prominent role in terms of strategic support. The share of civil aviation passenger turnover in the comprehensive transportation system has increased by 18 percentage points to 33.1%. China has vigorously promoted the construction of world-class airport clusters in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone to support key national and regional development strategies, and four major airport clusters have preliminarily taken shape. Ten major international aviation hubs, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Xi'an, and a modern airport system consisting of 29 regional hubs have been basically established in China. At the same time, China has signed bilateral air transportation agreements with 128 countries and regions and opened 895 international routes. Its domestic airlines operate regular international flights to 153 cities in 62 countries under normal conditions. We have promoted the development of international air logistics. There are now about 5,000 international cargo flights every week, reaching 123 cities in 52 countries around the world, which effectively ensures the stability of national industrial and supply chains. At the same time, we have actively integrated into the Belt and Road initiative. We have signed bilateral air transportation agreements with 100 Belt and Road countries and maintained regular passenger and cargo flights with 64 countries, with the number of flights accounting for more than 60% of China's total international flights.

Fourth, new business models and forms in the civil aviation industry are thriving. China has planned and built nearly 80 airport economic zones, including 17 national airport economic demonstration zones. China's civil aviation industry has played a more prominent role in the transformation and upgrading of industrial structures. Our business has maintained rapid growth, with an increasing number of new business models. The average annual flight hours grew by 12.5%. China now has 339 airports for civil aviation and 3,045 general aircraft. The number of registered drones reached around 830,000, with annual flight hours exceeding 10 million. It's fair to say that the aviation industry has become a new growth point for China's economic development.

Going forward, we will earnestly implement the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on civil aviation, in accordance with the strategic guidance of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to push forward the plan for the development of the civil aviation industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025). We will coordinate development and security, strengthen our work on risk control and management, and work to defuse potential dangers. We will ramp up efforts to ensure the civil aviation industry grows smarter. We will pursue new progress while maintaining steady growth, promote high-quality development of the civil aviation industry, and promote the building of China's strength in the civil aviation sector to a new level. Thank you.

Dai Yingjun:

Friends from the media, good morning. Now I would like to brief you on the development of China's postal and courier industry. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the State Post Bureau has adhered to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, fully studied and implemented the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the postal and express delivery sector, and earnestly carried out the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We made decisive progress in the three critical battles against poverty, pollution and potential risk, steadfastly deepened supply-side structural reform, and firmly took measures to facilitate smooth flows in the economy and society. The post and express delivery sector has achieved leapfrog development, and a modern postal sector has been built to meet the demands of a moderately prosperous society. China has embarked on a new journey toward building its strength in the postal sector. 

First, we continue to cement the foundation for development. We have built a nationwide postal network that is accessible in rural areas and connects the rest of the world. The delivery capacity through high-speed trains and airlines continues to expand. The application of smart facilities and equipment such as unmanned warehouses, vehicles, and drones has been expedited, with up to around 700 million parcels being handled per day. 

Second, we continue to improve public service. We worked to provide more adequate postal service in equal measures to both rural and urban areas. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), we built 8,840 postal offices at the town and township levels. As of the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), all the villages in China were accessible by postal service. The express delivery network covered almost all towns and townships, and 80% of all villages, with the annual parcel volume per capita approaching 77. User satisfaction for postal and courier services stood at a high level.

Third, we continue to enhance governance capacity. We pushed forward the adoption of the amendment to the Postal Law and introduced the Interim Regulation on Express Delivery. We accelerated the making of laws, plans, policies, and standards in the postal and courier sector that matches the high-quality development. We deepened reform to streamline administration, delegate power, and improve regulation. We worked to optimize the business environment and stimulate the vitality of market entities. We enhanced our safety oversight capability, trained a number of high-caliber personnel, and worked to better protect the rights and interests of our employees at a primary level. There was a significant improvement in the sector's culture and soft power.

Fourth, the postal and courier sector has gained more influence on the whole. Over the past decade, revenue for the sector went up from 198.09 billion yuan to 1.26 trillion yuan, registering an annual growth of 22.9%. Its share in GDP went up from 0.37% to 1.11% last year. Parcel volume increased 18 times from 5.7 billion to 108.3 billion, ranking first in the world for eight years in a row. The postal and express delivery sector has played a major role in serving major national strategies, fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring a stable and smooth supply chain. It also made contributions to removing impediments to major transportation arteries and facilitating circulation at the primary level. Thank you.

Xing Huina:

Thank you all for the introduction. Now the floor is open to questions. Please identify your media outlet before raising questions.

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