ABSTRACT
Historically, civil aviation was slow to reach China. Following the 1949 revolution, China’s development was largely inwardly focused. The agrarian nature of the country and the predominance of rail transport meant that civil aviation did not serve a significant role in commerce or passenger transport. Chinese airports and infrastructure were quite limited, although in most cases appropriate to the low levels of aviation activity they supported. During this time, the importance of military aviation grew, so that much (if not all) of the air navigation requirements were provided by the defense forces.
