Guangzhou (JLC), March 8, 2024 – China wrapped up the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) for 2024 with 8.42 billon passenger trips completed, a record high for the corresponding period, Li Xiaopeng, Minister of Transport said on Friday.
It was up 9.8% from the corresponding period in 2023, also represented a growth of 7.1% from the corresponding period in 2019, the minister said.
The figure undershot the government's original estimate, which was about 9 billion trips, largely due to two rounds of snowy and freezing weather that swept most regions in China and caused disruptions of transportation.
Private car travel accounted for about 80% of the total passenger trips, and the remaining 20% were contributed by the “operational passenger volume”, which means trips made by passengers who bought tickets to travel by air, railway, road and waterway, Li said.