China's cross-regional passenger trips up 3.5 pct in 2025

Railway staff members and passengers pose for a group photo on the high-speed train G3360 in southwest China's Guizhou Province, Jan. 26, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China reported 66.86 billion cross-regional passenger trips in 2025, an increase of 3.5 percent year on year, the Ministry of Transport said on Friday.

Railway passenger traffic rose 6.7 percent from a year ago in 2025, while civil aviation passenger numbers increased by 5.5 percent. Meanwhile, road passenger movements grew by 3.3 percent, the ministry's spokesperson, Li Ying, said at a press conference.

The transport sector operated in a stable manner with progress last year, Li said.

Freight transport also posted solid growth as China handled 58.7 billion tonnes of commercial cargo in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent. Express delivery volume surged to 199 billion parcels, up 13.7 percent from the previous year.

Total port cargo throughput reached 18.34 billion tonnes in 2025, up 4.2 percent. Container throughput climbed 6.8 percent to 350 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

Transport investment remained at a high level. China is expected to have completed more than 3.6 trillion yuan (about 516.7 billion U.S. dollars) in fixed-asset investment in the transport sector in 2025.

Of the total, railway investment is estimated at 901.5 billion yuan, while highways and waterways are projected to receive over 2.6 trillion yuan. Civil aviation investment is expected to reach 120 billion yuan.