China's aviation sector, the fastest growing in the world, established the China Civil Aviation Safety Academy in Beijing on Wednesday.

Yang Yuanyuan, director of China's General Administration of Civil Aviation said safety is an important criteria in judging a country's aviation development.

With a growing air transportation, it is crucial for China's aviation sector to improve its safety so as to move into a higher level of development, Yang said.

The academy will offer the staff in China's air transportation sector eight courses from theoretical studies to practical operations.

Wang Changshun, president of the academy, said although its accident rate is lower than the international average level, China's aviation industry still has a long way to go to catch up with countries with advanced aviation transportation systems.

Wang said that the academy will endeavor to set up a complete series of courses on aviation safety in five years and aim to provide 6,000 and 8,000 training opportunities for aviation staff every year.

Statistics show that China's total air transportation grew by 18.2 percent, passenger traffic by 16.5 percent and cargo transportation jumped 15.6 percent annually from 1978 to 2004, nearly double worldwide growth.

(Xinhua News Agency May 25, 2006)