China, US hold negotiation

China and the United States held talks in Beijing from January 30 to February 1 to review the 2004 civil air transport agreement for a possible open skies agreement. The US delegation was headed by Thomas Engle, director of the US State Department’s Office of Aviation Negotiations, and the Chinese delegation was headed by Liu Fang, vice director of the International Cooperation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The US has been urging China to agree to an open skies policy. The two parties discussed the imbalance of the China-US air transport market. An open skies agreement would open the aviation markets of both countries. China said it is not yet time for such agreement, considering that its airspace is congested and the landing and takeoff timetables in main airports remain very tight, as is true of the landing and takeoff timetables of most main airports. China needs to upgrade the infrastructure and recruit more aviation personnel to ensure safety before it can consider an open skies policy with the US. Both sides agreed to future talks to discuss the agreement.