Air China will open seven international routes on September 28 from Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to seven cities in Europe and North America.

The seven international flights will all start from Xi'an, stop over in Beijing and then fly to Frankfurt, London, Paris, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vancouver, according to Li Jiaxiang, president of Air China.

"Passengers to these foreign cities can go through exit and entry procedures and baggage consigning at Xianyang International Airport, and they need not to take their baggage by themselves when they change planes in Beijing," Li said on Tuesday in Xi'an.

Li said the opening of the new air routes will further enhance Xi'an as a key aviation port in northwest China. Moreover, Li said the operation of these air routes will lay the foundation for direct flights from Xi'an to these foreign cities in the future.

With the central government's implementation of preferential policies to encourage investment and development in China's western regions, Xi'an is playing a more important role as a transport hub in northwest China. More and more foreign tourists, businessmen and investors flock to Xi'an for sightseeing and economic opportunities, the mayor said.

"However, as an inland city, Xi'an had only 10 international routes linking Japan, the Republic of Korea and Southeast Asia as well as China's Hong Kong and Macao," Sun said.

To some extent, this situation has limited the city's leading role in western regions and has affected Xi'an's investment environment, the mayor said.

(China Daily September 22, 2005)