China has seen a surge in passenger flow so far on Saturday -- the first day of this year's three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday season, with railway transportation of outbound holidaymakers reaching a peak, according to estimations by transport administration authorities.
The railway passenger flow has shown a drastic increase, driven mainly by family visits and tourism. On Friday, China's railway system recorded 15.77 million railway passenger trips, with the number estimated to reach 17.8 million on Saturday, with 1,029 additional train trips scheduled.
Railway transport in the Yangtze River Delta in the affluent east China is expected to handle over 3.8 million passenger trips on Saturday, marking the highest daily passenger flow so far during the Dragon Boat Festival. New high-speed railway lines from Hangzhou to Wenzhou and from Shanghai to Suzhou and Huzhou, and the booming cross-boundary traffic on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail have contributed to this surge. According to estimation, the number of cross-boundary railway passenger trips in the region would reach 520,000, marking a 19.7 percent year-on-year increase.
In terms of highway transportation, outbound traffic flow has surged so far on Saturday from large city clusters including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China and the Yangtze River Delta. The total daily vehicle traffic on expressways during the holiday is expected to reach about 40.7 million cars. To deal with the increased traffic and potential weather changes, local transportation authorities are collaborating with meteorological departments to issue weather alerts to ensure the safety of travelers.
For air travel, airlines nationwide are expected to handle around 1.95 million passenger trips on Saturday, with multiple airline companies scrambling to add more passenger flights on popular routes.
The Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. For this year, the festival falls on Saturday, and the three-day holiday runs from Saturday to next Monday.
China sees passenger flow surge on first day of Dragon Boat Festival holiday
China sees passenger flow surge on first day of Dragon Boat Festival holiday
China's development blueprint for the 2026-2030 period will create strong market opportunities for industries worldwide, said Judy Marks, president and CEO of American elevator maker Otis, in Beijing on Sunday. The China Development Forum 2026 began on Sunday in Beijing. With the theme of "China in Its 15th Five-Year Plan Period: Advancing High-Quality Development and Creating New Opportunities Together," the two-day event is bringing together global officials, industry leaders, and experts for 13 thematic sessions and a series of closed-door discussions, covering topics including new trends in consumption growth, green and low-carbon transition, the development of future industries, and the industrial application of artificial intelligence (AI).
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the sidelines of the event, Marks shared her insights on the significant role of China's research capabilities and market environment for the global economy.
She said that Otis's research and development center in China, leveraging local resources, is well-positioned to advance its innovation strategy.
"So I would tell you to us in China, it's an innovation hub and an agility engine. And, that really describes China for us. We do work in China for China, but we also do both manufacturing and development and research for the rest of the world. And China, in Shanghai, has our largest development team of anywhere in the world. It makes us go faster. It's AI and digital driven -- and it really allows us to set the benchmark," said Marks.
She said that China is advancing rapidly in areas including smart cities and digital infrastructure, developments that will bring new opportunities and shape the future of the global elevator industry.
"Now to us, the world is digital and connected. They're the two highest priorities we have. If an elevator is part of an ecosystem in the building, we can share information with transportation systems, with energy systems. As China pursues even more of a low carbon world, our elevators actually push power back into the building and capture power when they break with our regenerative drives," she said.
Speaking of China's recently-approved 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), aimed at expanding high-level opening up and driving high-quality development, Marks described it as highly encouraging for multinational companies.
"I would tell you everything we see in the 15th Five-Year Plan is encouraging: high-quality development, which is a commitment from the government and the whole ecosystem to serve its citizens, digitalization, urban renewal -- all of this combines. It's created a large market for a company like Otis. It's where we're going to invest, and it's in sync with our strategy and our mission," she said.
China's development blueprint brings opportunities to global industries: Otis CEO
