Direct flights link China with 43 Belt and Road countries

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China now has direct flights to 43 Belt and Road countries, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Tuesday.

Around 4,200 direct flights are operated every week linking China and the Belt and Road countries, according to CAAC official Wang Changyi.

Belt and Road Initiative is a global dialogue, not China's monologue. /CFP Photo

By the end of 2016, China had signed air service agreements with 120 countries and regions, with those along the Belt and Road accounting for more than half of that number.

In the first four months of 2017, air passenger traffic to countries along the Belt and Road took up a 47.1 percent share of China's international passenger volume, up from 39.8 percent in 2015, Wang said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, foreign delegation heads and guests get together at the Leaders' Roundtable Summit of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation at Yanqi Lake International Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China, on May 15, 2017. /Xinhua Photo

The improving air connectivity came amid steady progress of the Belt and Road Initiative, a grand plan proposed by China in 2013, to connect Asia with Europe and Africa along, and beyond, ancient trade routes by putting in place an unparalleled trade and infrastructure network.

The two-day Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation ended Monday with promises and high hopes, including the signing of a series of cooperation agreements.

(Source: Xinhua)