China's aggregate air traffic mileage in 2002 rose to 16.2 billion ton-kilometers, up 17 percent on a yearly basis and pushing China's world ranking from the sixth to fifth, according to statistics from the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The four countries ahead of China are the United States of America, Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany, said an official with the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China.
The figures did not include those of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
China's passenger traffic volume also increased 17 percent in 2002, ranking fourth in the world for the first time, ahead of Germany and France and after the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom.
(Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2003)
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