The 2025 International Conference on Sustainable Development of Airport Economic Zones opened Thursday in Beijing Daxing Airport City (BDAC), highlighting innovation, cooperation and sustainable growth in the aviation sector.

The 2025 International Conference on Sustainable Development of Airport Economic Zones opens in Beijing Daxing Airport City, Sept. 25, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

With the theme "Navigating the Future — Aviation Technology Innovation and the New Services Ecosystem," the two-day event brings together government officials, foreign diplomats, industry leaders and experts to discuss the future of aviation development.

At the conference's opening ceremony, Sun Shuo, vice mayor of Beijing, noted in his speech that BDAC is becoming a world-class aviation city and a "new gateway" for the capital, and pledged to accelerate its growth through greater openness, innovation-driven industries and deeper cooperation with neighboring Hebei province.

Majintha Jayesinghe, Sri Lankan ambassador to China, said at the conference that aviation transportation is vital to global connectivity and trade, and praised BDAC's achievements in aviation services and sustainable development. He added that Sri Lanka, as a partner of the Belt and Road Initiative, looks forward to strengthening cooperation with China in logistics, cold-chain collaboration and low-altitude technology, and to expanding multilateral partnerships through the conference.

Zhu Weimin, chief engineer of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), pointed out that the conference's focus on sustainable development and frontier areas such as aviation technology, logistics and the low-altitude economy is both timely and significant. He explained that the CAAC will continue to support the zone by strengthening policy coordination, advancing the civil aviation innovation base, and deepening international cooperation through the "Air Silk Road."

Liu Yang, mayor of Beijing's Daxing district and director of the administrative committee of BDAC, highlighted the benefits offered by policies from the free trade zone, bonded zone and airport zone in BDAC. He said that these have created unique advantages, as streamlined customs clearance and reforms in cross-border data, health care and trade continue to attract companies engaged in research, production and logistics. 

The first batch of integrated business licenses for the Beijing Daxing International Airport Economic Zone is issued in Beijing, Sept. 25, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

In addition, BDAC issued its first integrated business licenses at the opening ceremony, under a new policy that allows enterprises registered in the zone to use a unified address format and apply through an online platform jointly developed by Beijing and Hebei. The new measure aims to remove administrative barriers, enhance business convenience, and foster a stronger sense of belonging among market entities in the zone.

As part of its efforts to deepen institutional innovation under the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, BDAC has introduced cross-regional services with Xiong'an New Area in recent years, standardized more than 200 administrative services and qualifications across the region, and enabled online one-stop processing to reduce the need for companies to make repeated applications in different locations.

The Low-Altitude Technology Industrial Service Platform is launched in Beijing Daxing Airport City, Sept. 25, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

The opening ceremony also featured the launch of new platforms for urgent clinical imports, international cooperation in the oral medicine industry, and services for the low-altitude technology sector. 

A total of eight projects were signed at the conference, covering aviation innovation, trade logistics and life sciences, with a combined investment of 2.7 billion yuan ($378.42 million) and a planned construction area of 136,000 square meters. Once operational, the projects are expected to generate an annual revenue of 11 billion yuan and a trade volume of 10 billion yuan. 

Among them, the CAAC Airworthiness Certification Center will build its administrative headquarters in the International Aviation Headquarters Park in BDAC, further strengthening the zone's role as a national hub for aviation science and technology innovation.