Collaboration to improve civil aviation between China and the European Union is advancing along with the growth of air travel, which reached some 8 million passenger trips last year, representing an annual increase of 15 percent, according to the chief of China's aviation authorities.

"China has signed bilateral transportation agreements with 27 out of the 28 EU countries, with 15 of the nations already having launched direct flights to China. Every week, there are more than 600 flights between China and the EU," according to Feng Zhenglin, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Feng gave a keynote speech at the first joint aviation safety conference of the CAAC and European Aviation Safety Agency, held in Shanghai on Thursday.