Air Show Marks 70 Years of China's Air Force

J-10 fighter jets of the Bayi (August 1) Aerobatics Team of the PLA Air Force perform during an air show celebrating the 70th anniversary of the force's foundation, held in Changchun, Jilin province, on Thursday. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A People's Liberation Army Air Force air show took place in Changchun, capital of Jilin province, on Thursday.

It was part of the opening ceremony of a five-day, open-house activity hosted by the PLA Air Force at the Air Force Changchun Airport to mark the 70th anniversary of its foundation.

General Ding Laihang, the Air Force's commander-in-chief, and General Yu Zhongfu, the force's political commissar, attended the opening ceremony.

The Bayi (August 1) Aerobatics Team of the PLA Air Force perform during an air show celebrating the 70th anniversary of the force's foundation, held in Changchun, Jilin province, on Thursday. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

The open house is intended to show the Air Force's achievements over the past 70 years of building, development and transformation and also to display its efforts to gain strong combat capability and strategic prowess, according to Colonel Zhang Shouhai, an officer at the PLA Air Force's Staff Department.

The activity will include flight performances of 35 aircraft from 10 types in active service with the Air Force, such as the J-20 fighter jet and JL-10 advanced trainer jet. A total of 71 ground weapons and equipment of 46 types will be on display.

All of the Air Force's aerobatic and parachute stunt teams – August 1, Red Eagle, Sky Wing as well as Blue Eagle – performed during the opening ceremony.

Two J-20 fighter jets perform during the show. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

This is the seventh open house run by the Air Force since 2011 when the first was conducted. The venue is permanently set in Changchun, a city historically significant to the Air Force.

In March 1946, the first flight school of the Communist Party of China's armed forces was set up in Jilin province's Tonghua and was later moved to Changchun. The school is defined by the Air Force as its cradle.

Three and half years later, the PLA Air Force was established on Nov 11, 1949, in Beijing, about one month after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

A Y-20 large transport aircraft flies in the air. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A J-16 fighter jet flies in the show. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

A paratrooper performs during the show. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Red Eagle Aerobatics Team performs during the show. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]