China airport construction going global

A new airport in Lome, capital city of Togo, will be completed on Dec. 25, the latest global cooperation for China's aviation industry.

This project has cost 150 billion US dollars, including a terminal with three boarding bridges, a viaduct to the terminal and expanding the parking lot, said Hong Shangyuan, general manager of China Airport Construction Group Cooperation (CACGC).

In the past six decades, CACGC has built 200 airports, mainly in China, but since 2000, they have built airports in the Comoros, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Laos, Angola and Tanzania.

Hong estimates that China's aviation industry will see 1.3 billion trips per year and the number of airports will reach 400 by 2030.

Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said that investment in the aviation industry generates more in a shorter time and provides more stimulation to related industries, compared with other transport sectors.

Wu Haoning, director of the CACGC's design institute, reckons China will have 100 new airports and expand another 120, with a total investment of 360 billion yuan (60 billion US dollars) by the end of next year, according to the 12th five year (2011-2015).

The CACGC has been responsible for over 90 percent of airport construction in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.