The Civil Aviation Administration of China and Rolls-Royce Plc signed an agreement on Monday to extend a training program for senior Chinese aviation managers for another 10 years.

The United Kingdom-based engine manufacturer provides annual four-week courses overseas for senior executives from the Chinese civil aviation industry. There is also a four-month course in Beijing every year.

"I think we will continue extending this program every 10 years to meet the huge human resources demands of civil aviation in China," said Li Jiaxiang, head of the CAAC.

Two of the four top directors of the CAAC took part in the program, Li said.

China's civil aviation industry is set to enter a period of growth, and the sector is short of human resources, he said. "The cooperation program is very promising," Li said.

Since 1996, more than 1,000 professionals in the Chinese aviation industry have taken part in the program, which is due to end in 2016. The attendees come from every part of the industry - airlines, airports, airworthiness administration operations and air traffic control.

Over the years, executives at Rolls-Royce have seen some changes in the ranks of civil aviation managers from China.

"We have clearly reached the stage where many delegates have had a good business education in China and have an understanding in principle of business models and theories," said Patrick Horgan, regional director of Northeast Asia for Rolls-Royce.

In the early years of the initiative, the instructors would teach principles and practice mostly through lectures, he said. But now, there is a greater reliance on case studies and practical approaches "to make the principles come alive", he said.

This development runs in parallel with the greater international exposure of attendees, who travel worldwide on behalf of their organizations.

Those people are also more confident in interacting with teachers and experts on a discussion basis, which promotes a much better environment for learning, he said.

"We are now moving rapidly into an era of knowledge exchange rather than knowledge transmission as we continue to develop programs with our Chinese partners," Horgan said.

China's civil aviation industry has recorded double-digit growth in recent years and the country is projected to become the world's largest civil aviation market by 2030.

Correspondingly, the need for people is also increasing.

According to the CAAC, about 2.4 million people will be working in the nation's civil aviation industry in 2020. The number was only 1.1 million as of the end of 2009.

COMAC gets order boost at major airshow	Airbus sees Chinese market as one of the world's largest