A recent mission to Beijing and Shanghai, China, conducted by ICAO Secretary General Juan Carlos Salazar (pictured second from left) coincided with the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the organization’s Asia and Pacific Regional Sub-Office (APAC-RSO) in Beijing.
This office complements the APAC Regional Office in Bangkok and focuses on supporting all the 39 APAC States on Air Traffic Management implementation. The Secretary General’s bilateral meetings at this occasion provided an opportunity for Mr. Salazar to express his gratitude to China for its hosting of the office. The Secretary General also thanked representatives of APAC States for their human resources contributions to this office.
The Secretary General’s mission included a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr. Qin Gang, which provided a significant opportunity to highlight China’s contributions in international civil aviation and to explore avenues for enhancing cooperation between ICAO and China.
Arriving in Beijing, Mr. Salazar was welcomed at Beijing Daxing International Airport by previous Secretary General of ICAO, Dr. Fang Liu, Special Representative of the CAAC Administrator. He subsequently held bilateral meetings with the Administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), Mr. Song Zhi Yong, and the Deputy Director General of the CAAC’s Air Traffic Management Bureau, Mr. Miao Xuan.
At the APAC-RSO anniversary event, Mr. Song and Mr. Salazar signed the renewal of the Supplementary Agreement between ICAO and the CAAC regarding financial and administrative arrangements for APAC-RSO, demonstrating China’s strong commitment to supporting its operations.
Before concluding his mission, the Secretary General also met the UN China Resident Coordinator and the UNDSS Regional Security Adviser, Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee and Mr. Sherif Messiha, respectively; as well as the Chair of the Council of the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT).
These discussions revolved on how cooperation between ICAO and these bodies could advance progress towards the UN Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals, and ICAO’s safety, security, efficiency and sustainability goals for civil aviation.
While in Shanghai, Mr. Salazar held a bilateral meeting with Mr. Chen Jining, Party Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, as well as with Mr. He Dong Feng, Chairman of COMAC. Mr. Salazar congratulated China and the city of Shanghai for the first commercial flight of the C919 aircraft by China Eastern on 28 May 2023, the new aircraft developed by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC).
