Over 180 mln cross-regional trips expected on 1st day of China's 2026 Spring Festival travel rush

China's 2026 Spring Festival travel rush kicked off on Monday with an estimated 187.91 million cross-regional trips, a 13 percent year-on-year increase, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Specifically, the railway passenger flow was estimated at 12 million, the road passenger flow at 173.12 million, the waterway passenger flow at 600,000, and the civil aviation passenger flow at 2.19 million.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year. The official holiday for this year's Spring Festival lasts nine days, with the travel rush running through March 13.

Each year during the Spring Festival travel rush, also known as Chunyun, millions of people working, studying or living away from their hometowns return home for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, forming the world's largest annual human migration.

During the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, inter-regional trips are expected to hit a record 9.5 billion.

Over 180 mln cross-regional trips expected on 1st day of China's 2026 Spring Festival travel rush

A system of standards for China's low-altitude economy is expected to be basically established by 2027, according to guidelines published on Monday.

The guidelines state that by 2030, there will be more than 300 standards for the low-altitude economy, and a structurally optimized, advanced, reasonable and internationally compatible standards system will be basically formed, providing strong support for the sector's sound development.

The standards system will cover the entire industrial chain, including low-altitude aircraft, infrastructure, air traffic management, safety supervision and application scenarios.

China's low-altitude economy has entered a period of accelerated industrialization, forming a complete industrial ecosystem that spans technological R&D, equipment manufacturing, operations services and infrastructure construction.

The guidelines were released by the State Administration for Market Regulation and several other central government departments.

China aims to basically establish standards system for low-altitude economy by 2027