China railways expect passenger trips rise for New Year holiday

BEIJING -- China's railway network is expected to see 37 million passenger trips during the four-day New Year travel rush, according to China Railway Corporation.

Average daily train trips are expected to reach 9.25 million from Dec 29 to Jan 1, 2018, a 7 percent increase year on year.

Tourism has been booming in China during holidays, accompanied by busy traffic. According to data from the China National Tourism Administration, 135 million tourists are expected to travel in the country during the upcoming New Year holiday, a 12.5 percent rise compared with a year ago.

Domestic tourism revenues are expected to reach 76.5 billion yuan ($11.7 billion) during the holiday, a 12.7 percent rise year on year.

China's domestic tourism industry earned about 3.9 trillion yuan in 2016, and the country plans to raise tourism revenue to 7 trillion yuan by 2020.

The nation will work to develop tourism into a major driver of economic transformation. By 2020, investment in tourism is expected to grow to 2 trillion yuan, and the sector's overall contribution to the national economy will reach 12 percent, according to a State Council five-year tourism plan (2016-2020).