The Sustainable Airport Areas International Conference opened on September 25 at the Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone. Government department leaders, experts, scholars, and corporate executives from home and abroad attended the event, where they shared insights and discussed sustainable development paths and new development approaches for airport areas.
Sun Shuo, Vice Mayor of Beijing; Liang Nan, Deputy Head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC); Zuo Gang, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Infrastructure Development of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC); Jean-François Benon, Managing Director of the Economic Expansion Committee of Val d’Oise (CEEVO), France; and Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Vantaa, Finland, participated in the opening ceremony.
Sun said in his speech that Beijing will continue to promote the development of Daxing International Airport and its economic zone. He highlighted the importance of seizing the significant opportunities presented by China’s ongoing reform efforts, while keeping to the strategic positioning of the airport economic zone as “an area for performing the functions of international exchanges, a national leader in aviation technology innovation, and a demonstration area for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development”. He highlighted the goal of making it a window to showcase Chinese modernization to the world. The conference, themed “Intelligent and Sustainable Development for a Better Airport City”, brought together industry leaders and scholars from around the globe to explore sustainable development paths for airport areas. Sun looked forward to exchanging ideas with friends from different countries and exploring new approaches for airport area development. Participants are encouraged to contribute wisdom and strength to opening a new chapter for the growth of the airport economy.
Liang stated that in recent years, CAAC, in collaboration with NDRC, has supported and guided local governments in the development of airport areas in terms of policy implementation, project development, and institutional innovation. Looking ahead to the new era, CAAC will uphold the important strategic positioning of civil aviation as a national key industry, facilitate local socio-economic progress, and develop a high-quality airport economy. It will move faster to foster a new development paradigm where civil aviation and regional socio-economic development reinforce and support each other. He emphasized that the Daxing International Airport Economic Zone, as a pilot platform for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, should not only enhance its competitiveness as an aviation hub by aligning with national strategies, but also leverage its comparative advantages to boost the differentiated development of the airport economy. In addition, it should strengthen coordination to create a strong synergy for growth. The development potential of the airport economic zone is enormous. He hoped to jointly build the Daxing International Airport Economic Zone into a new driver for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei coordinated development strategy.
Jean-François Benon, representing the CEEVO, France, extended his congratulations on the opening of the conference. He emphasized that airports are gateways to the world, helping stimulate the local economy while also bearing significant environmental and social responsibilities. Thus, the discussion today is crucial for shaping a shared future. He looked forward to sharing experience with participants to explore the future development of global airport zones.
At the opening ceremony, Xie Xingquan, Regional Vice President for North Asia of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and Cao Yunchun, Director of the Institute of Airport Area Economy, Civil Aviation University of China (CAUC), delivered keynote speeches. Additionally, the International Data Port held a groundbreaking ceremony, and several major projects were inked and landed in the Daxing area of the airport economic zone.
