China sees over 190 mln trips on 3rd day of Spring Festival Travel Rush

China handled more than 190 million trips on Thursday, the third day of the Spring Festival travel rush, as transportation authorities intensify efforts to ensure smooth travel amid rising passenger numbers.

As of 20:00 Thursday, the railway ticketing platform 12306 had sold a total of 150 million tickets for the 40-day Spring Festival travel period, which began on Tuesday and will continue through Feb. 22.

With passenger flow increasing, railway authorities across the country have ramped up train capacity and introduced measures to ensure safe and orderly travel.

In response to the surge of families traveling with children, stations like Yan'an Railway Station in northwest China's Shaanxi Province and Ganzhou West Railway Station in east China's Jiangxi Province have set up special play areas for children.

"I feel more at ease letting my child stay in this children's rest area. They have companies to play with. It's really great," said Zheng Huiyin, a passenger.

Meanwhile, China Railway Harbin Bureau in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has launched special trains featuring intangible cultural heritage elements on the route from Harbin, capital of the province, to Mohe, China's northmost city.

Passengers on the train can enjoy live performances and demonstrations of traditional ethnic craftsmanship.

"This year, the first since the Spring Festival was inscribed on the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list, we introduced this special train. In addition, we have lively performances of regional dances like Yangge and song-and-dance duets in the dining compartment," said Shi Lei, conductor from the Qiqihar Passenger Service Division of the China Railway Harbin Bureau.

As for road transportation, long-distance travel has increased significantly, with many people migrating from major cities and provincial capitals to surrounding areas and key labor-exporting regions.

To support electric vehicle (EV) travel, transportation and power authorities have upgraded charging facilities at some highway service areas in eastern provinces and intensified inspections. Mobile charging stations have also been deployed to assist EV owners.

Additionally, a new departure inspection hall at the port of entry and exit of Tianjin Binhai International Airport, a key international gateway in northern China, officially began operation on Thursday, further enhancing customs clearance efficiency.

Tianjin Airport Border Inspection Station handled over 1.01 million passenger trips and nearly 8,000 international flights in 2024.

With the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, and the winter and Spring Festival holidays, both outbound and return travel are expected to surge, and Tianjin Binhai International Airport is set to see peak inbound and outbound passenger flows.

The Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, falls on Jan 29 this year. The Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, is the world's largest annual human migration known for its high transportation demand as hundreds of millions return home for family reunions.

China sees over 190 mln trips on 3rd day of Spring Festival Travel Rush

China sees over 190 mln trips on 3rd day of Spring Festival Travel Rush

China's development has never been a "threat" to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Friday.

Some Western media and think tanks are peddling so-called "China Shock 2.0," saying that "China is achieving fast development in high-tech sectors such as renewable energy and AI and relies on foreign markets to absorb its overcapacity, thus reducing the market share of developed countries and sending more serious shock waves to the global economy compared with the era of traditional manufacture industry," while there are foreign commentators saying that the "China Shock 2.0" argument ignores the genuine innovation occurring within the Chinese industrial ecosystem and that Chinese export is the exact booster of the global economy that is needed in the turbulent period and more indispensable than ever.

Commenting on that, Lin said: "From the world's factory to the world's market and innovation powerhouse, China's development is achieved through strong performance driven by innovation and brings tangible cooperation opportunities and space to the world. High-quality Chinese products represented by the 'old three' of textiles, furniture and home appliances have stabilized the global industrial and supply chain, lowered the living cost of global consumers and eased the inflationary pressure worldwide. China's green production capacity represented by the 'new three' of electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has bridged the gap between supply and demand in global green development and bolstered the global energy transition and low-carbon development. Moreover, China's high-tech products represented by the 'new new three' of robots, AI and innovative drugs have broken high-tech barriers and monopoly and enabled people in more countries to access affordable new technologies," said the spokesman.

"Openness and cooperation bring about progress and win-win result. China's development has never been a 'threat' to anyone but the source of growth advancing common development of all countries. What really creates 'shocks' to the world has never been the innovation of Chinese companies and efficiency of Chinese industrial capacity, but protectionist moves of setting up barriers, decoupling and severing industrial and supply chains. China will stay committed to high-standard opening up, defend the multilateral trading system and provide more certainty and new impetus to the world economy with its own steady development," said Lin.

China's development never a threat: FM spokesman