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.

Aviation cooperation between China and the EU has reached more than 100 programs dealing with such areas as laws and regulations, safety standards, airworthiness and maintenance, and aviation security, Feng said.

The two parties signed a letter of intent to work together in 2013, drew a road map for aviation security in 2015, and in 2016 launched the EU-China Aviation Partnership Project, according to Feng. A letter of intent supporting the project was signed on Wednesday at the conference's opening ceremony.

"A typical example of the deepened cooperation between China and EU is the Airbus final assembly line in Tianjin. There are about 1,400 Airbus aircraft being operated across China, accounting for nearly half of all aircraft in operation in China," he said.

Yu Nan, an industrial analyst from Haitong Securities, said: "There is huge growth potential in the Sino-EU aviation market compared with the fully developed Sino-US market. I expect more direct routes will be launched and more airlines to launch code-share agreements."

In the case of China and the United States, 812 flights between the two nations were made every week in the winter of 2016, up 20.8 percent from the summer of 2016, according to CAAC data.

There are as many as 15,000 passengers and 116 flights between the two every day.

Leading members of the aviation community at the conference discussed progress on establishing a bilateral aviation safety agreement between China and the European Union. More uniform standards, reached through a safety agreement, would make it easier for companies to market their aviation products in China and Europe, while maintaining the high safety record that benefits both regions.

"This year is the year of opportunities," said Henrik Hololei, director general for mobility and transport for the European Commission. Hololei said he expects a set of negotiations to be finalized soon between China and the EU that would include the safety agreement, which would benefit the aviation industry of both.

Panel discussions were held that dealt with such topics as implementing efficient safety management systems for maintenance, new technologies and developments in aircraft navigation systems, and efforts to promote the wider use of helicopters in China for uses like emergency medical services.

The conference marks a new high in aviation ties between China and the EU after steady grown in recent years, said Li Jian, deputy head of the CAAC.