The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) on Wednesday issued an urgent circular, asking domestic air companies and relevant departments to enhance safety measures and self-examination so as to avoid serious accidents, the Economic Daily reported.

The CAAC required all air companies to draw lessons from the several international air crashes in the past month, and take actions to ensure flight safety, the newspaper said.

Currently China's civil aviation service has entered the midseason. Due to frequent thundershower weathers in the summer, many flights have been delayed.

In August, a Cypriot Boeing 737 operated by the private Helios Airways crashed in north of Athens, killing all 121 passengers and crew members on board, and a Colombian jet carrying French tourists crashed Tuesday in the mountains of western Venezuela, killing all 160 people on board.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2005)