The ICAO 41st Assembly with the theme of “Reconnecting the World” opened both online and offline on September 27 in Montreal, Canada. Cui Xiaofeng, Deputy Administrator of CAAC, led the Chinese delegation to attend the Assembly and delivered a keynote speech.

The opening ceremony of the ICAO 41st Assembly

Cui Xiaofeng delivers a speech at the Assembly.

Cui noted that faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, ICAO has led and supported its Member States in the fight against the pandemic and the pursuit of common development. The global aviation sector has demonstrated strong resilience amid the pandemic. Air transport is recovering from the pandemic, gaining more public confidence.

Cui pointed out that the pandemic is not over and the revival of global civil aviation is still beset with difficulties and challenges. To this end, all countries around the world should work together to overcome the difficulties and challenges and strive for common development. China remains firmly committed to the purposes and objectives of the United Nations and ICAO and will continue to work with ICAO and its Member States to promote mutual respect, enhance solidarity and mutual trust and deepen cooperation. China will accelerate the implementation of the Global Development Initiative and other initiatives and make every effort to boost the recovery and sustainable development of the global civil aviation sector.

In his speech, Cui made four proposals as follows:

First, we should ensure aviation safety. It is necessary that all Member States comply with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) to enhance safety supervision, improve professional personnel training and protect the rights and interests of aviation personnel in order to lay a solid foundation for the revival of the aviation sector.

Second, we should promote the recovery of the civil aviation sector. All Member States should, under the framework of ICAO, continue to coordinate positions, deepen cooperation, strengthen policy support and make active innovation for stronger momentum of recovery and greater resilience.

Third, we should achieve green development. We should abide by the fundamental global climate governance principles such as the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, equity and respective capabilities of all countries. We should also stick to the low-carbon development strategy and make all-out efforts to jointly develop and share new technologies for energy conservation and emissions reduction, so as to develop an equitable, reasonable and mutually beneficial environment governance system for international aviation in which everyone does its best.

Fourth, we should deepen practical cooperation. In the spirits of partnership with openness and inclusiveness, China is willing to join hands with other States to put safety first, prioritize development, adopt an action-oriented approach and carry out closer cooperation under the strong leadership of ICAO. We will further step up assistance to developing countries, in a bid to realize the objective of “No Country Left Behind”.

It is reported that the ICAO Assembly is held every three years and is of the highest relevance and influence among ICAO events. As an ICAO Member State, China stays committed to promoting the safe and sustainable development of international civil aviation, and has contributed to over 20 percent of global air transport growth for many years in a row. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China has delivered by air more than 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, giving full play to the active role of civil aviation in building a community with a shared future for mankind. Besides, over the past three years, the Chinese government has donated more than 8 million US dollars to multiple ICAO projects, which provided training for 865 senior and middle management personnel from 124 countries .