To realize our vision of going global, we need to put improvement of technology at the top of our agenda and cooperate with world-class universities to obtain as many technology resources as possible."

Wang Jun, vice-president of CSR, the nation's largest maker of rolling stock, who says going global and exporting advanced railway equipment are top priorities.

"Dubai, with its transportation, financial and legal infrastructure, can act as the gateway for Chinese businesses in the Middle East and the African continent."

Ibrahim Al Janahi, deputy chief executive officer of the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority and chief commercial officer of Economic Zones World, who says Dubai is set to play an important role for China as well as be a key partner for the One Belt, One Road initiative.

"The ideal situation would be to eliminate distinctions between international and domestic operations, or at least to have all current domestic routes open for international operations."

Tony Tyler, chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association, who suggested several priority areas for improvement, including opening domestic routes to international carriers and simplifying procedures for re-routing requests. Allowing international flights to use domestic air routes would make the use of airspace more efficient.

(China Daily European Weekly 05/15/2015 page18)