BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- China's airlines operate regular international passenger air routes connecting 177 cities in 80 countries across five continents, according to Han Jun, deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Han presented the data at a press conference on Tuesday, adding that China's airlines now operate more than 1,000 regular international routes in total. During the first half of the year, passenger trips on international air routes exceeded 40 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.7 percent.

In a related development, the C919, China's domestically developed large passenger aircraft, is set to make its international debut. Air China recently announced that the C919 will enter service on the Beijing-Ulaanbaatar route starting Aug. 12.