Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Chinese Government on the UK's commercial participation in that country's economic strategy for aviation.

There are a number of formal mechanisms where the UK Government engages with the Chinese Government on that country’s economic strategy for aviation. These include:

- the annual Government to Government Aviation Working Group, which discusses issues relating to aerospace. The last meeting took place in the UK in November 2017.

- the Airport Working Sub-Group, which looks at the development of airports and related infrastructure. This last met in Beijing in March 2018.

In addition, the Department for Transport is exploring cooperation with the Air Traffic Management Bureau of China, and arranged a visit to the UK for its Director-General in November 2017 to meet the National Air Traffic Service and see operations at London Heathrow.

Finally, the bilateral Air Services Agreement between the UK and China was recently revised, and the number of services that airlines are allowed to operate between the UK and China has been increased to 150 per week. This creates opportunities for airlines from both countries to increase their flights to each other’s cities.

​