Hangzhou Jianqiao Airport, also known as Hangzhou Air Base, is a People's Liberation Army Air Force Base located in Jianqiao, Jianggan District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. It is situated approximately 7 miles northeast of the city center. The airfield was developed in 1922 and consolidated as an air force base in 1931 by the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China. It was a site of air battles between the Chinese and Imperial Japanese air forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–45). The base was converted to a public airport in 1956, with civil flights commencing on January 1, 1957. The airport underwent expansion in 1971 for the official visit of President Richard Nixon. In 1990, its single runway was lengthened and widened to 3,200 meters long and 50 meters wide. Commercial flights ceased on December 29, 2000, when all civilian operations were transferred to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, returning Jianqiao to solely military use. It is currently owned by the People's Liberation Army and operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force.