Guangzhou Ushers in New Era of Connectivity, Internationalization between Spain and China

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Guangzhou News Center

26 Sep, 2017, 19:00 GMT

BARCELONA, Sept. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The aviation industry jets to Barcelona this week for one of the biggest events of the year-the World Routes 2017-which will include a spotlight session on Asia, including China, as a key player in the future of aviation. As that outlook shifts to the East, Guangzhou, southern China's biggest city, is becoming an integral international air hub that is creating more connectivity and commerce opportunities between Spain, China and the rest of the world.

On September 26th, representatives from the Guangzhou Municipal Government and the Guangdong Airport Authority (GAA) will participate in a ceremony to handover the Flag of World Routes at Fira Gran Via, as this burgeoning aviation authority officially welcomes the world's biggest industry stakeholders to World Routes 2018 to be held in Guangzhou next year.

"By bringing together this impressive roster of industry leaders and stakeholders we can engage in open, productive discussions about the future of the aviation industry-which is at the heart of Guangzhou's development initiatives and is a matter of global-reaching impact," said Diao Ailin, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou municipal government. "Guangzhou is at a turning point in our own aviation development as we become a steadily more international transportation and logistics hub, and by hosting next year's World Routes conference we can continue to help foster sound, innovative growth and development that benefits stakeholders industry-wide."

As part of these development efforts, Guangdong Province has sped up the formation of its "5+4" airport pattern, and the transport volume, cargo throughput, networks and industry economy surrounding the Baiyun Airport have continued to see substantial forward movement. The Baiyun Airport has also become the first portal hub for travel between China, Southeast Asia and Oceania, and its global and regional network continues to blossom to cover a growing expanse of Europe, the United States and beyond.

Furthermore, the 116-square-kilometer Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone (GAEZ) aims to build the world's most advanced aviation maintenance industry cluster, and has initiated a number of major projects and developments including the FedEx Asia Pacific trans-shipment center. The GAEZ is working closely alongside large multinational enterprises and groups, including a number of Fortune Global 500 and renowned international companies like SIEMENS, United Technologies Company, Airbus and Vailog S.r.l. to support and foster their investment and on-going development in the region.

"As China continues its opening up to the world, Spain is becoming an increasingly key partner to the city of Guangzhou, and this panel gave us a great opportunity to discuss key topics of mutual interest," said Diao Ailin, Deputy Secretary General of Guangzhou municipal government.

By the end of July, Spain had set up 46 enterprises in the city of Guangzhou, achieving a 900 percent year-on-year growth of cumulative contractual foreign investment in the region, and actual foreign investment of USD $65.37million. Between January and July of 2017, the total export-import volume between Guangzhou and Spain reached $607million, with exports from Guangzhou to Spain growing 25.6 percent and imports from Spain growing more than 22 percent.

"As we strive to build new bridges in the air, the World Routes to be held in Guangzhou serves as a way to build even more bridges between leaders and executives in Spain and Guangzhou," said Diao Ailin.

Guangzhou Aviation Fast Facts

From 2012 to 2016, annual take-offs and landings at the Baiyun Airport increased from 373,000 to 435,000.

  • Annual passenger throughput increased from 48.31million passengers to 59.78million over the same four-year period.
  • Annual cargo throughput increased from 1.25million metric tons to 1.65million between 2012 and 2016.
  • Guangzhou's Baiyun Airport ranked 3rd amongst its peers in China for cargo throughput.
  • By 2025, cargo throughput will reach 3 Mt/a - making it one of China's leading aviation logistics centers and one of the world's leading airport logistics bases.
  • The Baiyun Airport network covered 219 destinations worldwide as of June 2017, with 86 international and regional destinations.
  • 77 airlines, including 50 foreign and regional airlines, operate out of the airport.
  • There were 122 million outbound Chinese tourists in 2016, with Guangzhou representing a top four "door" to the outside world.