China's cross-regional passenger trips up 1.2 pct in H1

BEIJING, July 22 (Xinhua) -- China reported 34.17 billion cross-regional passenger trips in the first half (H1) of 2026, an increase of 1.2 percent year on year, the Ministry of Transport said on Wednesday.

Road passenger traffic rose 0.9 percent year on year to 31.32 billion trips, while waterway passenger trips increased 4.3 percent to 130 million, according to data released by the ministry.

During this period, China handled 28.07 billion tonnes of commercial freight, up 3.2 percent year on year. Of the total, road and waterway freight volumes reached 21.22 billion tonnes and 4.23 billion tonnes, respectively.

Total port cargo throughput rose 2 percent year on year to 9.07 billion tonnes, while container throughput climbed 5.9 percent to 180 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

During the January-June period, fixed-asset investment in the transport sector remained at a high level, totaling 1.5 trillion yuan (about 220.81 billion U.S. dollars). Of the total, highway and waterway investment stood at 1 trillion yuan and 109.9 billion yuan, respectively, the data revealed.