China wants to work more closely with European nations in training civil aviation engineers, an aviation educator said on Tuesday.

"A top aviation industry needs a pool of top talent, and this must be based on a top training system," said Wu Tongshui, president of the Civil Aviation University of China. "We plan to gain the capability of training the best engineers in major aviation fields before 2018, and in order to do that we must deepen international cooperation to improve how we teach."

Wu made his remarks during the graduation ceremony of 75 Chinese students of the Sino-European Institute of Aviation Engineering in Tianjin established by the Civil Aviation University of China. Each received a master's degree in aviation engineering.