Spring Festival travel boosts economy

CHINA’S chunyun for 2024 the Spring Festival travel rush will officially conclude on Tuesday. An estimated 9 billion passenger trips are expected to have been made during the 40-day rush, with bustling scenes seen across China from busy markets to hustling railway activity, which are vivid displays of economic vitality.

The consumption boom during the Spring Festival holidays, coupled with thriving trade cooperation represented by the uninterrupted China-Europe freight train services, will significantly contribute to the country’s steady economic growth in the first quarter of 2024, with sustained momentum for the rest of the year, observers said.

On Sunday alone, 182.45 million trips were made, up 14.4 percent year on year and up 4.5 percent compared with the same period in 2019, official data showed. During the first 33 days of the holiday, 7.02 billion trips were made, and cargo transportation remained efficient and orderly, Transport Minister Li Xiaopeng told a press conference on February 28.

The strong consumption rebound during the holidays promoted the revival of involved industries and will significantly support gross domestic product growth for the first quarter, Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.

Wang said that booming holiday consumption has laid a solid foundation for driving up the economy’s development for the whole year while boosting market confidence.

The spending power on display during the holidays is still a major potential growth point for continued economic development, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Monday.

Both Wang and Cong highlighted the growing demand for consumption upgrading as Chinese consumers now pursue high-quality products with elevated services and experiences, and are relatively less price sensitive.

The upgrading demand will inspire market players to ramp up product and service quality for sustained operations in the long term.

Analysts pointed to the integration of the cultural, sports and tourism sectors as another new engine for propelling holiday consumption, on top of the already booming domestic and international tourism.