China's aviation industry will celebrate its centennial with a host of activities this fall.

Zhou Shizhong, secretary general of the organizing committee, said the celebration includes a flight festival, an aviation scientific exhibition, an aviation forum and a futuristic aircraft design competition.

He said China's aviation industry has a long history and expressed his hope that the centennial celebration will help promote China's aviation industry.

The aviation forum will be held in Beijing in September, with 250 experts from home and abroad taking part. "Aviation and China's economy in the 21st century" will be the main theme for the forum.

The science exhibition will be held from September to October. Over 200 aircraft will be displayed in the over 3,000 meter exhibition hall. A number of multimedia presentations commemorating the past 100 years of the aviation industry and looking ahead to the next 100 years will be conducted.

China's first flight festival will be held in Xi'an, with over one hundred aircraft on display. The three-day performance, which is expected to attract between 200,000 and 300,000 visitors, is also expected to boost the local economy.

An evening performance with the theme of "sharing the blue sky"to be held in December is expected to be the peak event of the centennial celebration.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2003)