China records over 2.8 bln inter-regional trips during Spring Festival holiday

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- During the nine-day Spring Festival holiday, which ended on Monday, more than 2.8 billion passenger trips were made across all regions in China, data from the Ministry of Transport showed on Tuesday.

The annual Spring Festival travel rush, known as "chunyun" in China, is expected to break records this year, with approximately 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips forecast nationwide between Feb. 2 and March 13.

By Feb. 21 -- the midpoint of the 2026 Spring Festival travel period -- the total number of inter-regional trips had reached 5.08 billion. That figure included 4.76 billion road trips, 258 million railway trips, 19.99 million waterway trips, and 47.51 million air trips, according to ministry data.

The use of new energy vehicles (NEVs) saw a continued surge during this year's Spring Festival holiday. From Feb. 15 to Feb. 23, the NEV charging volume on highways totaled 149.77 million kilowatt-hours. The average daily charging volume came in at a record high of 16.64 million kilowatt-hours, which was a 52 percent increase compared to the same holiday period last year, the National Energy Administration said.

The Spring Festival is an occasion for family reunions and fell on Feb. 17 this year. ■