This Day, That Year

Item from Feb 9, 1985, in China Daily: An Air Force plane spreads seeds over a mountain to build forests. The Chinese Air Force has unveiled details of a plan to redirect manpower and resources to the country's economic development ... this includes diverting military flights to urgent civilian cargo transport, producing civilian goods in Air Force factories and sharing results of scientific research with civil organizations. Last year, the Air Force was engaged in 878 civilian projects ... It went on 230 rescue missions ... and planted 340,000 hectares of tree and grass seeds in 13 provinces.

The country now boasts about 2,000 civilian aircraft and the number of planes is expected to soar in the next decade, with the value of the civilian aviation sector hitting $15.5 billion, official figures and industry insiders said.

Low-altitude airspace is expected to be gradually opened nationwide to accommodate private flights, starting with 12 cities such as Shenyang and Qingdao as pilot zones for airspace below 1,000m this year.