China plans to open its aviation market wider and is looking outside its borders for more partnership opportunities, a senior official with the General Administration of Civil Aviation (CAAC) said Tuesday.

CAAC Deputy Director Li Jun made those remarks in a speech at the China-US Aviation Symposium, which opened in Beijing Tuesday.

CAAC and the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the China/US Aviation Cooperation Program (ACP).

Under the plan, the USTDA will improve coordination of US private sector assistance for ACP projects, including financial support, technology assistance and personnel training.

A formal grant agreement for the ACP may be signed later this month.

The signing came six weeks after the head of the US Federal Aviation Administration, Marion Blakey, met with CAAC Director Yang Yuanyuan in late February. The two discussed working together in air safety, including such areas as flight standards, air traffic control, aircraft certification, airport safety management, personnel training and data.

The symposium, sponsored by CAAC and USTDA, is designed to provide a forum for discussion on airport downloading, aviation safety, air traffic control, general aviation and corporate aviation markets in China. More than 200 participants from China and the United States attended the meeting.

"The symposium is a testament to the importance of civil aviation infrastructure in today's world," said USTDA Director Thelma J. Askey at yesterday's opening plenary session.

(China Daily April 7, 2004)