Airports in China.

This page is classified as a multi-gateway national network. The evidence score comes from static source coverage: codes, airport facts, official domains, city-clock handoffs, IANA zones, operational facts, and country dossiers where present.

These numbers aggregate the curated airport-facts file across this country’s retained records. Missing fields mean the curation file does not quote that figure; they are not zero-imputed.

The rows below show why the top airport records are useful beyond a country list: role labels, code identity, timezone, scheduled-service flags, passenger/runway facts where quoted, and the source hosts that back static airport identity.

Time-zone span

Single-zone airport clock for China

All retained airport records resolve to one IANA timezone (Asia/Shanghai, UTC+08:00 CST no DST). Local-clock math is simpler here than in multi-zone countries, but the airport’s stored IANA identifier is still the authoritative reference for DST transition weekends.

These ranks reflect passenger volumes quoted in the curated airport-facts file; airports without a quoted figure are excluded from this card even if they may be locally busier.

Peers are picked by geographic proximity (same continent) and similarity of retained-record counts. Comparison is structural — it does not audit fleet size, national aviation policy, or passenger traffic.

Chinese civil aviation handled 730 million passenger trips in 2024 — up 18% year-on-year and 10.6% above 2019 — across 5.39 million flights, per the CAAC's January 2025 annual readout. About 640 million were domestic. The Big Three (Air China, China Eastern, China Southern) anchor the international network from Beijing Capital (PEK), Beijing Daxing (PKX), Shanghai Pudong (PVG), and Guangzhou Baiyun (CAN); CAAC continues to enforce the One Route One Airline policy with selective relaxation post-pandemic.

Last verified 2026-05-09 · manually curated. Figures quoted in this paragraph are point-in-time; treat the linked sources as authoritative.

Frequently asked

China airport questions

How many airports does China have in this index?

This index retains 25 airport records for China (25 large and 0 medium). It is a curated reference set with usable IATA/ICAO codes and coordinates, not a complete national aviation registry.

What is the busiest airport in China?

Based on the curated airport-facts file, the busiest retained record for China is Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport (TAO) in Qingdao (Jiaozhou) at 35 million passengers. Other airports in the country may carry more traffic; this reflects only retained records with quoted passenger figures.

Which timezone is China in?

All retained airport records in China resolve to Asia/Shanghai. The zone does not observe a seasonal DST shift in the IANA database.

Does China have international airports?

Yes. The curated airport-facts file flags 25 records with an international-gateway role label in China. The role tags are derived from OurAirports type plus airport naming; verify scheduled international service with the carrier before booking.

How does China compare with regional peers for airport count?

Among same-continent peers with similar retained-record counts, China has 25 records vs. Japan (18), Turkey (10), Indonesia (8). The comparison covers only retained records on this site, not full national aviation inventories.

These entries are pulled from the same retained catalog as the full table below. Use them as a starting point for local time, code lookup, and nearby-city planning, then verify route and terminal details with the airport or airline.