China sees remarkable progress in general aviation in recent years

China aims at the development of general aviation and has seen remarkable progress in recent years, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

"By the end of last year, China has seen significant growth and development in the general aviation sector, marked by several key indicators," said Shang Kejia, deputy head of the administration's transportation department.

By the end of last year, China had 690 registered general aviation enterprises with a fleet of 2,900 aircraft, logging an average of 114,000 flight hours per month. These figures represent substantial growth, at 2.5 times, 1.5 times, and 1.8 times compared with the levels recorded in 2015, according to Shang.

She made the remarks at a news conference on Friday in Beijing.

China's capacity for aviation support has also seen continuous improvement, Shang said.

By the end of last year, the country had 449 general aviation airports, a significant increase from 2015, marking a 7.4-fold expansion.

Shang also noted that the burgeoning industry of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has shown remarkable progress. By the end of last year, China had registered 1.27 million UAVs, a year-on-year increase of 32.2 percent. About 19,000 enterprises are engaged in UAV operations, and the recorded annual flight time for civilian UAVs reached 23.11 million hours, up 11.8 percent year-on-year.

"UAV flight activities, as the primary driving force for the future development of low-altitude economy, have shown a positive trend in China in recent years," said Luo Hongjiang, deputy head of the administration's air traffic management office.

By the end of last year, China had 194,000 licensed UAV operators, he said.

The next step, China will focus on urban scenarios to carry out pilot programs of urban air traffic with the involvement of UAV flight activities, he said.

International collaborations in the UAV sector, especially with the countries and regions involving the Belt and Road Initiative, will also be promoted, Luo said.