China Passenger Traffic Rebounds on First Day of New Year Travel Rush

China’s passenger traffic surged almost 39% year-on-year on the first day of this year’s official Spring Festival travel rush, suggesting that unwinding its “zero-Covid” policy will help restore travel demand during the world’s largest annual human migration.

On Saturday, Chinese public transport systems carried some 34.7 million passengers, according to data (link in Chinese) from the State Council, the country’s cabinet. Despite the year-on-year increase, the number represents a 48.6% drop from the first day of the travel rush before the pandemic in 2019.