XI'AN, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- An international general aviation convention will be held from Oct. 13-17 in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, organizers confirmed Thursday.

The convention in the provincial capital city of Xi'an will feature air shows, an aircraft and aeronautical equipment exhibition, as well as professional forums, organizers said.

So far, more than 100 companies have confirmed their participation, and there will be about 60 aircraft for display.

Sun Anhui, deputy secretary general of Shaanxi provincial government, said at a press conference on Wednesday that he expects 200 more companies to eventually confirm and an additional 40 other aircraft for the show.

Twenty-five contracts totaling 4 billion yuan (625 million U.S. dollars) are expected to be clinched during the convention, Sun said.

General aviation refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular flights, both private and commercial.

This year's general aviation convention comes at a time when the Chinese government has loosened its grip on general aviation.

In March, Li Jiaxiang, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), said low-altitude airspace control would be fully open by 2015.

In recent years, Shaanxi has beefed up its efforts in developing its aviation industry. Shaanxi is home to one of China's leading aircraft makers, AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry (Group) Corp.

The aviation convention in Xi'an was first launched in 2009 by the Shaanxi provincial government and CAAC.