The aviation industry regulator is considering further opening the country's potentially huge aviation sector to private investment.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) will accelerate reforms to the regulation of domestic capital in the civil aviation industry, Yang Yuanyuan, CAAC director-general, said at a national work meeting on aviation.

Yang said the country would further relax restrictions on issuing licenses for the management of domestic flights, and would set up a system to review the qualifications of international operators.

Yang said his agency would maintain its crackdown on airfare price violations, referring to airline companies offering unauthorized discounts.

The CAAC is vigorously deepening the reform and opening of the country's civil aviation industry to meet the growing demand and impending competition from foreign airlines in China, as a whole market is opening wider in accordance with its WTO commitments.

(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2003)