The number of journeys taken over China’s three-day Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday tumbled by nearly two-thirds from last year, state media said, as authorities battle outbreaks of Covid-19 across the country.
The decline was worse than expected, according to transport ministry data, and comes as analysts warn that the economic cost of keeping infections to a minimum is likely to soar, with sectors like tourism bearing the biggest brunt.
Total trips – including rail, air, waterway and road – reached an estimated 53.78 million over the three-day period beginning on April 3, down 63%, the official Economic Daily reported late on Tuesday.
The figure was also about 10% lower than 2020, when parts of China were still recovering from the first coronavirus outbreak that began in central China’s Wuhan.
Air travel was worst hit, with total passenger numbers falling to an estimated 562,000, down 87% from a year ago and 54% down on 2020. Road journeys fell 53% on the year, and were also slightly lower than 2020.
China’s transport ministry had expected road traffic to drop 20% and flights to fall 55% during the three-day holiday.
Local authorities have been restricting traffic and subjecting travellers to strict testing requirements in order to curb an outbreak driven by the more infectious Omicron variant.
Nomura said in a note on Tuesday that around 193 million people are now subject to full or partial lockdowns in 23 cities, accounting for 13.6% of China’s population and 22% of gross domestic product.
“As has been the case over the last two years, the impact of containment measures has been most acute for the service sector and for smaller enterprises,” said Michael Hirson, China analyst with the Eurasia Group consultancy.
“These segments are critical for China’s domestic economy, in particular for employment and thus consumption,” he added.
- Reuters, with additional editing by George Russell
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