General Ding Laihang, the air force's commander-in-chief, and General Yu Zhongfu, the force's political commissar, attended the opening ceremony.

The open house aims to show how the air force has developed and transformed over the past 70 years and also looks to display the efforts it has made to gain strong combat capability and strategic prowess, according to Colonel Zhang Shouhai, an officer at the PLA Air Force's Staff Department.

The event will include flight performances by 35 aircraft of 10 types in active service such as the J-20 and the JL-10 advanced trainer jet. A total of 71 ground weapons of 46 types of equipment are also on display.

It is the seventh large open house the air force has held since its first in 2011. The venue is permanently set in Changchun, a city historically significant to the air force.

In March 1946, the first flight school of the Communist Party of China's armed forces was set up in Jilin province's Tonghua, and was later moved to Changchun. The air force defines the school as its cradle.

The PLA Air Force was established on Nov 11, 1949, in Beijing.