By the end of 2005, the state civil aviation industry plans to have increased its volume of passengers to 100 million per year. And its freight service is expected to reach 2.8 million kilograms a year.

The remarks came from a planning official with the Civil Aviation Administration of China at an international workshop held in Shanghai.

"For the coming five years, it is rational for China's civil industry to develop at a relative faster pace,'' said Wang Zhi, director of the Planning Department under the administration.

Wang, however, didn't elaborate further on why China should accelerate growth in this industry.

Wang hailed the outstanding achievements made by China over the past 20 years since the beginning of reforms in 1978.

In 2000, China soared to No. 6 in the world in passenger transport volume, while in 1978, it ranked 33rd.

Statistics from the Civil Aviation Administration of China indicate that China's passenger transport volume in 2000 rose to 67 million. And the freight volume stood at 970,000 kilograms.

Wang was satisfied with the present make-up of China's civil aircraft fleet.

To date, China has 57 civil freight planes across the nation and the passenger planes in service offer more than 92,000 seats at any given time, according to Wang.

By the end of 2000, China had 129 civil-use airports. Among them, 13 are capable of handling Boeing 747s and 103 can handle Boeing 737s.

China will construct 40 airports within the next 10 years, 23 of them to be located in western China.

(China Daily 07/02/2001)