CHINA hopes to overcome its dire shortage of civil aircraft pilots by opening a string of training schools around the country.
It is also considering sending cadets to study abroad for the first time.
Beijing has decided 600 pilots a year should be trained to cope with the rapidly growing aviation industry - far more than its existing training system can handle.
The mainland has just one civil air training school, run by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), in Guanghan, Sichuan province. It can train only 160 pilots a year.
To tackle the problem, CAAC is looking to open other satellite training schools, starting in Luoyang.
Mainland airlines have been given permission to start their own training schemes and authorities have discussed training pilots overseas for the first time, probably in Australia and the United States.