China reports steady passenger trip growth in Q1

China saw a steady increase in passenger trips in the first quarter of this year amid continued economic recovery, official data showed Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Transport, a total of 17.39 billion inter-regional passenger trips were made across the country in the first three months, up 4 percent from a year ago. In particular, the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun, drove the increase, with 9.02 billion trips recorded, marking a historic high.

In the January-March period, highways dominated passenger movement, accounting for 16.07 billion trips, while railways and civil aviation handled 1.07 billion and 190 million trips, respectively.

The momentum is expected to continue into the upcoming five-day Labor Day holiday starting May 1. The ministry anticipates an average daily highway traffic volume of around 62 million vehicles, with the peak likely on the first day of the five-day break.

Apart from the busy passenger sector, freight transport also saw stable growth. The first quarter recorded 13.06 billion tonnes of commercial freight, up 4.9 percent from the same period in 2024. Express delivery services surged 21.6 percent, with the number of parcels handled reaching 45.14 billion. Port cargo throughput rose 3.2 percent, totaling 4.22 billion tonnes.

Investment in transportation infrastructure remained substantial in the first three months, with fixed-asset investment reaching 675.2 billion yuan (about 93.65 billion U.S. dollars). Investments in railway and waterway grew notably, climbing 5.2 percent and 10.2 percent from a year ago, respectively.