China’s Spring Festival Travel Declines 40% Amid Coronavirus

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese travel over the Spring Festival period declined 40% from a year earlier as the coronavirus outbreak impeded the movement of people, according to the nation’s transport ministry.

Passengers made 1.35 billion trips by rail, road, ships and air from Jan. 10 to Feb. 8, China’s Ministry of Transport said in a statement on its WeChat account on Sunday. The number of travelers flying and taking trains both fell about 33% from a year earlier.

Most Chinese provinces and cities extended the holiday break by a week to Feb. 9 as the country tried to contain the spread of the deadly virus.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Lulu Shen in Shanghai at lshen37@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Shamim Adam at sadam2@bloomberg.net, Ben Sharples, Stanley James

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Bloomberg