Reform and Opening Up: Way to the Sustainable and Harmonious Development of Air Transport in China

Global air transport has been undergoing wings of change in the past 30 years as a result of deregulation and liberalisation. It has been both a facilitator and beneficiary of globalization. During this period, air transport in China has also been undergoing significant transformation and rapid growth following the reform and opening up policy of China since 1978. China has become the world’s second largest air transport system since 2006. Its burgeoning growth has significant impact on the air transport industry and leads the growth of air transport in the Asia Pacific region as well as the world. The reform of China’s civil aviation has been based on its policy in a socialist market economy as well as the liberalisation of air transport. In order to sustain the rapid and continuous development in civil aviation, China should continue to implement scientific management and development, deepen the reform and opening up and continue liberalization. This paper reviews the development of the air transport policy of China since its reform and opening up in the past 30 years and examines the challenges and way forward on the development of China’s air transport policy in the 21st Century.