BEIJING — China's air cargo industry has recovered to close to the level in 2019, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Jan 12.

As of the end of 2021, the country saw the volume of air cargo and parcels rise by 8.2 percent from a year ago to 7.32 million metric tons, a recovery of 97.2 percent of that in 2019, Xu Qing, a CAAC official, told a press conference.

The number of international cargo flights rose by 22 percent year-on-year to 200,000, including 69,000 flights by passenger aircraft refitted into cargo carriers, Xu said.

The civil aviation industry is expected to handle 7.8 million tons of cargo and parcels in 2022, Xu said, adding that efforts will be made to encourage air cargo companies to transform from single carriers into logistics integrators and enhance integrated logistics solutions.

The distribution of international routes will be optimized to accelerate the building of a safe and efficient logistics network and to better cope with risks stemming from COVID-19, Xu added.