Expanding international air routes is crucial for landlocked provinces like Shanxi to deepen opening-up and better connect with global markets, said a national legislator, calling for stronger policy support to help such regions integrate into international aviation networks.

"Shanxi's geographic reality of being neither coastal nor border-adjacent means aviation is a key channel for integrating into the Belt and Road Initiative and expanding air connectivity with the rest of the world," said Ma Tonggui, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and a senior executive at Taiyuan Wusu International Airport under Shanxi Aviation Industry Group.

Ma said Shanxi also boasts rich cultural and tourism resources, including several world heritage sites known both domestically and internationally. The popularity of the video game Black Myth: Wukong has further drawn attention to the province's ancient architecture and cultural heritage, attracting growing interest among foreign visitors.

During this year's Spring Festival holiday, Shanxi's Datong gained global attention for its traditional Chinese New Year atmosphere, bringing a historic breakthrough in inbound tourism. Data from travel platform Qunar showed that as of Feb 17, Datong ranked first nationwide in inbound tourism growth, with a 735 percent surge in popularity, making it one of the top destinations for foreign tourists celebrating the holiday in China.

Even earlier, during last summer's peak travel season, Datong gained attention among travelers due to its highly competitive prices for international flights. For instance, from Datong Yungang International Airport, round-trip flights to Bangkok were priced as low as 350 yuan ($48), one-way flights to Moscow around 600 yuan, and tickets to Seoul under 300 yuan. Compared with departures or transfers from other cities, these fares offered a clear price advantage, making Datong an increasingly popular transit hub for travelers.

"The ticket prices were achieved through active coordination with airlines and joint promotions with travel agencies," said Zhang Haifeng, a marketing executive at the Datong airport. "Our goal was to lower fares and make better use of available seats on international routes to improve load factors, and the results have been very positive."

Based on the rapid growth of the aviation sector and Shanxi's development needs, Ma proposed several measures to support the expansion of international routes for inland provinces.

On the one hand, he said the functional positioning of different types of airports should be further clarified, with differentiated development strategies adopted.

"For provincial hub airports such as Taiyuan airport, their future international expansion should be aligned with national strategies such as the 'rise of central China plan' and ecological protection of the Yellow River Basin," Ma said.

On the other hand, the NPC deputy suggested that more supportive policies be introduced for inland provinces in areas such as air traffic rights, slot allocation and international route approvals.