Construction of a new runway in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport will commence early next year, with the aim to build the airport into an international aviation hub.

The runway, the third in the airport, is scheduled to be ready in 2010, when Guangdong's provincial capital will hold the 16th Asian Games.

With the completion of the runway, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport will be able to handle more than 350,000 aircraft annually, 40 million passengers, up 52.6 percent, and 2 million tons of cargo, 2.07 times the previous year.

According to Liu Zijing, president of the Guangdong Airport Management Group Co Ltd, the runway is part of his efforts to build Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport into a hub that can compete with Hong Kong International Airport.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is talking to overseas airlines for more international flights. Liu expects Guangzhou will be able to operate more than 50 international flights daily by 2010.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, one of China's three major airlines, also plans to increase its international flights.

To this end, the airport is talking to local customs, frontline police, quarantine and inspection departments to further simplify exit and entry procedures and offer better services to attract more overseas airlines and passengers.

Located in the middle of the Asia-Pacific region, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport has the advantages that can make it the new international aviation hub, Liu told a forum in Guangzhou recently.

It takes less than 18 hours for an aircraft to reach major cities around the world from Guangzhou.

The airport expects to increase more international flights to Southeast Asia, the Gulf nations, Africa and Australia in particular, Liu said.

Liu has also mapped out an ambitious plan for the airport's expansion before 2020. The airport, according to the plan, will be able to handle more than 60 million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo annually by 2015. By 2020, those figures will go up to 75 million and 4 million tons.