Russian and Chinese Aviation authorities have increased the number of flights and destinations for airlines of both countries, Russian Deputy Transport Minister Valery Okulov said on Friday, stressing the increasing demand for flights to small provincial cities.

On Thursday, the Russian Transport Ministry said Russia and China agreed to set up a pilot zone to test the Russian GLONASS and Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation systems on passenger and freight transportation routes going through the Kraskino-Hunchun and Poltavka-Dongning checkpoints on the border in Russia's Primorsky Territory.

"Negotiations with China were quite successful, we considerably expanded commercial rights for both Russian and Chinese airlines. We increased the number of destinations from 28 to 38, expanded commercial rights for carrying out flights, particularly from Moscow to Shanghai, from 14 to 17, from St Petersburg to Shanghai from seven to 10 times, from 100 to 119 times in general," Okulov told reporters.

The deputy transport minister added that Russian cargo airlines were also interested in expanding their presence in China.

"There is an increasing demand for flights not only to such big cities as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou or Chengdu but also provincial ones," Okulov stressed.