In recent decades, China has experienced a drastic increase in demand for civil flight operations, becoming the fastest-growing passenger air market in the world. As a result, many of China's existing airport infrastructures were not sufficient to cope with the increased demands. As a result, larger and modern new airports are being constantly built to cope with the increased demand. As more modern airports are built, many existing airports are shut down for civilian use; however, many still operate as military airbases or for other purposes.
The following is a list of former civil airports in China. The opening and closing dates refer to the time during which civil operations were present. Some airports may have been operating for non-civil use outside these dates. For example, Shenyang Dongta Airport was established in April 1921; however, civilian operations did not commence until 1950.