Air China announced Wednesday that it will launch nonstop flights between Beijing and Houston on July 11.

Air China, China's flagship air carrier, is scheduled to operate four roundtrip flights on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, making Houston the company's fifth gateway in North America in addition to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.

The flights will be carried out by a new generation Boeing 777-300ER.

This year, the company will also increase the number of flights between Beijing and the cities of New York, Los Angeles and Vancouver, as well as start using larger planes for its San Francisco-Beijing flights.

Air China currently operates 19 flight routes from Beijing to the US and two from Beijing to Canada.