The country's aviation sector will continue to seek improvement in airport on-time performance and boost efforts to provide higher quality services, according to China's civil aviation regulator on Monday.

"The on-time rate of national flights should be kept at no less than 80 percent this year, with the airports handling over 10 million passenger trips at 85 percent," said Feng Zhenglin, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, at its annual work conference.

Last year, flight punctuality hit 81.65 percent, a year-on-year increase of about 1.5 percent, he said, adding that the country's civil aviation sector also has registered more than 80.6 million hours of safe flights.

The administration also will step up its efforts to provide higher-quality service this year, including streamlined security checks, more efficient complaint handling and better in-flight meals, he said.

China is now the world's second-largest civil aviation market. The country handled 660 million air passenger trips in 2019, surging 7.1 percent from the previous year. And the figure is expected to reach 710 million this year, up 7.5 percent year-on-year, according to the administration.

Airport construction expanded quantity and improved quality over the last few decades. The number of licensed transport airports surged to 238, and the number of licensed general airports increased to 246, Feng said.

According to the forecast of the International Air Transport Association, China will become the world's largest civil aviation market between 2024 and 2025.