An Air China Boeing 747 aircraft takes off from Beijing's international airport April 20, 2006. [newsphoto]

    BEIJING, May 9 -- China is set to spend on airport development in the next five years more than it did in the last 15 opening up huge investment opportunities for overseas and domestic investors.

    According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), the industry regulator, 140 billion yuan (US$17.4 billion) has been earmarked from this year to 2010, compared to the 120 billion yuan (US$14.8 billion) from 1990 to last year.

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    The spending will be focused on 42 new airports and upgrading existing infrastructure.

    Zhao Hongyuan, a senior CAAC official, told China Daily that the number of airports would rise to about 190 from the current 142, with the figure reaching 220 by 2020.

    The fleet strength of commercial aircraft will grow to 1,580 by 2010, up from the current 863, before reaching about 4,000 in 2020.

    The first step is to strengthen Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou airports as key international hubs. The CAAC also wants Chengdu, Kunming, Xi'an, Wuhan and Shenyang to become regional hubs.

    It is not just the developed coastal and eastern areas which will hog the funds other regions, too, get a big chunk of the spending pie.

    For example, Southwest China's Yunnan Province plans to invest more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in airport projects in the next five years, accounting for nearly one-seventh of the country's total, Xinhua News Agency reported.