Experts are expressing concerns as over 50 Chinese cities respond to Beijing's push to build airport 'aviation hubs' close to industrial zones.

According to Reuters, these cities hope the hubs will encourage other businesses to move in, including logistics companies.

Government researcher Wang Jun stated these plans "often start high key, but end poorly".

Mr Wang warns that too much investment will result in overcapacity and local debts. He said some areas of China already have too many airports, which are not in full operation as a consequence.

Senior consultant at Kent Ridge Consulting Wang Xiaohua stated there was not enough cargo or passengers to support the airports. She claims it needs a minimum annual flow of ten million passengers and 200,000 tonnes of cargo. At the end of last year, only Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Kunming met this criteria.

China currently has 19 airports per million square kilometres, compared to 57 airports in the US.

Despite having less airports, not all of them are profit making. Citing figures from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the news agency said 43 of the country's 183 airports are making a loss.