China to invest big in aviation

China's aviation regulator has unveiled a plan for major investment in aviation projects at home as the country's latest effort to prop up flagging economic growth and strengthen Asian trade infrastructure.

Around 500 billion yuan (81.78 billion U.S. dollars) will be invested in 193 domestic projects this year, Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, said Wednesday during an aviation forum in Beijing.

Li did not explain in detail but said aviation infrastructure construction will be prioritized in west China's Xi'an and Urumqi, southwestern Nanning and Kunming, and Xiamen on the eastern coast in the next five years.

"In the past two years, China built 15 airports and expanded another 28 in provinces along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative," Li said, referring to the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposed by China in 2013 for improved cooperation with countries in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Chinese airlines will add 83 new international routes this summer and autumn to meet increasing demand for outbound travel, in addition to the current 553 routes to 51 countries, the aviation chief added.

China boasts the world's second-largest civil aviation network, with 52 airlines and 202 airports.

The country is hoping that infrastructure projects can help bolster growth as the economy slows. Endi