China's railway travel rush for the New Year holiday kicked off on Wednesday, with more than 16 million trips expected on the day before the three-day public holiday.
Cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are experiencing high passenger flows.
The national railway system has scheduled 1,328 additional passenger trains on Wednesday to accommodate the increased travel demand.
The travel rush, expected to last till Sunday, will see about 77.8 million railway passenger trips, with Jan 1 anticipated as the peak travel day.
During the period, Beijing South Railway Station will operate extra trains to cities like Tianjin, Jinan, Qingdao and Linyi.
More than 200 overnight high-speed trains will operate for popular travel destinations such as Fuzhou, Xiamen, Nanchang, Ganzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.
Road and waterway passenger flows have also seen growth since Wednesday.
In response to higher traffic flow and severe weather conditions in some parts of the country, traffic management departments have reinforced precautionary measures to ensure safe and smooth transportation.
New Year holiday railway travel rush starts across China
With China assuming the rotating presidency on Friday, the United Nations Security Council will focus its work in May on revitalizing the authority of the UN Charter and the role of the United Nations, while advancing the political settlement of the Middle East issue, and promoting the stability and development of African countries.
Briefing reporters on the Security Council's priorities for May, Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the United Nations and president of the Security Council for May, made the statement on Friday.
In recent years, the world has been witnessing growing turbulence in the international landscape, with conflicts increasing, divisions widening, and the multilateral system, along with international law, under considerable strain, he said, urging the international community to take urgent actions to uphold the authority of the UN Charter and strengthen the role of the United Nations to prevent the world from "relapsing into the jungle" and "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war".
In this context, Fu said, the Security Council will convene a high-level open debate in May under the theme of upholding the purposes and the principles of the UN Charter and strengthening the UN-centered international system.
Security Council to focus on UN's role, Middle East, Africa in May: Chinese envoy
Security Council to focus on UN's role, Middle East, Africa in May: Chinese envoy
