(Photo: CGTN)

China's civil aviation sector expanded at a steady rate in the first seven months of the year, official data shows.

Total air transport turnover reached 68.8 billion tonne-km up to the end of July, a jump of 12.8 percent year-on-year, a faster growth than the 12.5 percent rise for 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

A total of 350.3 million passenger trips were made during the period, up 12.1 percent year-on-year, compared with a 13 percent increase last year. Cargo turnover rose 6.6 percent year-on-year to 4.1 million tonnes.

China has the world's second-largest aviation market after the United States. The country aims to realize 142 billion tonne-km of air transport turnover by 2020, with passenger trips to reach 720 million a year.