China is seeing a continued travel rush on Sunday as the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday starting on October 1 is already halfway through, with millions hitting the roads, rails and skies amid impacts of a powerful typhoon.
Typhoon Matmo, the 21st typhoon of the year that intensified into a severe typhoon early Sunday morning, has hit southern China, forcing authorities to adjust transportation schedules and routes to meet the high travel demand, particularly ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The festival, which will fall on Monday (Oct 6) this year, is one of the most important holidays and celebrations in Chinese culture, symbolizing family reunion, wholeness and gratitude for the harvest.
For the national railway network, it is expected to handle a total of 17.55 million passenger trips on Sunday, with an additional 927 train trips scheduled to accommodate the surging travel demand.
Affected by Typhoon Matmo, several railway bureaus in southern China has planned to suspend some train services while adjusting train routes within affected areas to guard against risks.
In terms of highways, the Ministry of Transport has expected the second holiday travel peak on Sunday, with the traffic volume estimated to exceed 62 million vehicles.
The country's waterway system is expected to handle 1.7 million passenger trips on Sunday, an increase of 7.68 percent year on year.
China's civil aviation system is projected to handle 2.35 million passenger trips nationwide on Sunday, up 0.6 percent year on year. A total of 18,066 flights are expected to be operated, with an expected on-time rate of around 90 percent.
The civil aviation authorities warned that Typhoon Matmo is bringing strong winds and heavy rain to southern China, leading to disruptions at airports in Guangdong, Hainan and Guangxi.
Travel rush continues amid typhoon impacts ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival
The "soft landing" of the China-EU electric vehicle case will greatly boost market confidence and inject new momentum into China-EU cooperation in automobile trade and investment, a spokeswoman of the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.
He Yongqian, the spokeswoman, made the remarks after China and the European Union (EU) agreed on the necessity of providing general guidance on price undertakings for Chinese companies exporting battery electric vehicle (BEV) passenger cars to the EU.
"China and the EU simultaneously announced on Monday that they had achieved positive outcomes following multiple rounds of consultations on the EV case, a development that has drawn wide attention at home and abroad. Industry players from both sides have 'highly welcomed and fully endorsed' the outcome, saying the 'soft landing' of the case is expected to greatly boost market confidence and inject new momentum into China-EU cooperation in automobile trade and investment. Some EU politicians have described it as a positive step toward building a sustainable China-EU trade relationship, and said it demonstrated that resolving trade differences through partnership remains feasible," she said.
"Against the current international backdrop, China and the EU, acting in a spirit of mutual respect and within the framework of WTO rules, have properly addressed the EV case, which is of significant positive importance. The outcome will not only contribute to the sound development of China-EU economic and trade ties and help safeguard the stability of the global automotive industrial and supply chains, but will also send a clear and strong signal that both sides are willing to uphold a rules-based international trading order, setting a good example for countries to resolve differences through dialogue and consultation and injecting greater certainty and positive energy into global economic growth," she said.
"China appreciates the spirit of dialogue showed by the EU side and stands ready to work with the EU, building on the current positive outcomes, to further implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two sides, maintain dialogue and communication, and support stable industrial and supply chains on both sides, continue to deepen cooperation on the basis of market principles, and make active contributions to the global green transition," she added.
"Soft landing" of China-EU EV case to significantly boost market confidence: MOC spokeswoman
"Soft landing" of China-EU EV case to significantly boost market confidence: MOC spokeswoman
