On February 19, the 2025 World Legal Symposium of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) was held in Shanghai. The Symposium attracted more than 330 international aviation law experts from all over the world to participate and to discuss the legal impact of the emerging forces to promote the development of the aviation industry. Zhang Xiaohong, Vice Mayor of Shanghai, Liang Nan, Deputy Administrator of CAAC, Leslie Macintosh, Corporate Secretary and Acting General Counsel of IATA, Wang Zhiqing, Chairman of China Eastern Airlines Group Co., Ltd, and Michael Gill, Director of Legal Affairs and External Relations of ICAO, participated in the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Liang Nan indicated that China's civil air transport ranked second in the world for 19 years in a row, contributing to over 20% to the global air transport growth. As one of the earliest signatories of the Convention on International Civil Aviation and Part I member state of ICAO Council, China has always actively participated in the development and amendment of international aviation laws and rules, and has acceded to and ratified many international civil aviation conventions. CAAC will continue to strengthen international cooperation, promote the coordination of laws and rules, and facilitate the training and exchange of aviation legal talents, contributing to the building of a complete international civil aviation legal system.

The conference discussed the Convention on International Civil Aviation from different perspectives, focusing on the following topics: data protection and privacy, cyber security, AI application, regulations and governance, the usage of alternative dispute resolution in the civil aviation industry, and the coordination and implementation of consumer protection regulations in various countries.

It is learned that the IATA World Legal Symposium is designed to promote the intellectual exchanges of fresh ideas in the industry as well as the innovation and development of aviation law. This is the second time that the symposium is held in China's mainland since 2012.