Chinese economy ‘still showing Covid scars’ despite ‘golden week’ travel surge

The number of tourist journeys increased compared with the Covid era but the daily average is below pre-pandemic levels, according to travel industry insiders

One analyst points to the drop in road travel, saying it paints a ‘quite alarming’ picture of sentiment among lower income groups

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Passengers at Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai at the start of the holiday period. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:34pm, 8 Oct 2023Updated: 9:17pm, 8 Oct 2023

China saw a predicted surge in travel during the recent “super golden week” holiday, but industry insiders warned that the economy is still showing the scars from the Covid pandemic and low-income groups are still struggling to get back on their feet.

According to data from the Ministry of Transport, 458 million passengers travelled by road, rail, water and on domestic flights during the eight-day holiday – a 57.1 per cent increase compared with last year, when stringent Covid controls were still in place.

The first National Day holiday since China abandoned its zero-Covid restrictions in January overlapped with Mid-Autumn Festival, making it a rare eight-day holiday.

News and social media posts were widely circulated about the swarms of tourism packing major cities across the country and train tickets being sold out instantly.

However, Zhou Mingqi, founder of tourism consultancy Jingjian Consulting, said it was more informative to compare it with pre-Covid years.

This year, the daily average number of travellers stood at around 66 per cent of the 2019 figures.