The Second Global Summit of ICAO Next Generation of Aviation Professionals was held on December 12-14 in Shenzhen, Guangdong. In-depth discussions were carried out on six topics relating to future aviation career, present and future challenges, female in aviation industry, innovations and solutions to tackle shortage of professionals, development of a strategy on national next-generation aviation professionals as well as way forward. CAAC Deputy Administrator Li Jian, Secretary General of ICAO Liu Fang and Mayor of Shenzhen Chen Rugui attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

In his speech, Li Jian expressed that CAAC has always attached great importance to the nurturing of professionals and has made active explorations in terms of expanding the pool of professionals, increasing supply of professionals, and providing training. In addition, CAAC has laid emphasis on cultivation of talents’ professional ethics, craftsmanship and comprehensive quality, paid special attention to professionals’ working style and competence improvement, and continuously implemented “making efforts at the grassroots, strengthening the foundation and strenuously improving the basic skills”. These factors underpinned the continuous and positive development of the Chinese civil aviation. In the future, CAAC will still further reinforce nurturing of professionals and 50 billion yuan is expected to be collected to build civil aviation colleges and universities, research academies and institutes and platforms of scientific and educational innovation so as to lay a solid foundation of professionals for building China into a civil aviation power.

Liu Fang indicated that the rapid development of the aviation industry necessarily triggers the huge demand for aviation professionals. Therefore, it’s a major task for the international aviation industry to attract aviation professionals to realize sustainable development of air transport. The global civil aviation industry must be keenly aware that more work is yet to be done to attract and retain professionals. For this, ICAO has introduced “Next Generation of Aviation Professionals” initiative, which combines aviation community and education community closely and hopes to address professional crisis faced by the aviation industry through practical professional nurturing.