China's tourism and consumer markets showed signs of accelerated recovery during the five-day May Day holiday that ran from May 1 to 5, as the COVID-19 outbreak is further contained, according to a news conference held by the State Council Information Office on Friday.

People enjoy blossoming flowers in Duji district of Huaibei, east China's Anhui province, during the May Day holiday. (Photo by Wan Shanchao/People's Daily)

The country saw more than 121 million passenger trips made during the first major holiday since the outbreak. On average, about 24.3 million trips were made every day during this period, up 17.9 percent from the average of the previous five days from April 26 to 30.

China's transport industry maintained safe and orderly operations during the holiday, said vice minister of transport Liu Xiaoming.

The country's domestic tourism market saw strong recovery during the holiday while ensuring epidemic control and preventing gatherings of crowds, said Wang Xiaofeng, a senior official with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

According to Wang, China recorded 115 million domestic tourist trips during the holiday, raking in revenues of 47.56 billion yuan.

With regular epidemic control measures in place, the tourism market recovered to about 50 percent of the level in the same period last year, Wang said, adding that the ministry will take measures to further boost the sector’s development.

Meanwhile, China's consumption also showed a recovering trend from May 1 to 5. During the period, average daily sales from major retail enterprises monitored by the Ministry of Commerce increased 32.1 percent from the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday in April.

During the holiday, the country guaranteed ample supplies of daily necessities at stable prices, said vice minister of commerce Wang Bingnan.

According to the monitoring from the ministry, the wholesale prices of grain and edible oil in 100 large-scale wholesale markets for agricultural and sideline products decreased slightly by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively, from the previous week, while that of pork dropped 1.3 percent. The average wholesale price of 30 kinds of vegetables fell 2.8 percent.

In general, the rapid recovery in the consumer market during the holiday demonstrated the advantages of China's huge market and the potential of its domestic demand, Wang added.