This study aims at systematically describing the evolvement of civil aviation safety in China.With a rapid growth,its level of safety has been continuously improved in the past 30 years.The serious-accident rate per one million flight hours decreased from 5.42 in the period of"Sixth Five-year Plan"(1 981 – 1 985)to 0.018 in the period of"Twelve Five-year Plan" (201 1 – 201 5).In recent 10 years (2006 – 201 5),this indicator is about 0.018 in China,well below the World average level of 0.24,which is more than 13 times of that of China.This paper summarizes the achievements of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)in the following aspects:safety notion,methods and techniques,safety management,and government supervision.This paper also provides analysis and perspective of issues and challenges re-lated to civil aviation safety in China,including increasing shortage of airspace,service of new large aircrafts designed in China,management for low-altitude airspace,increased civil aviation,and ineffectiveness of safety management.