A resurgence in travel over China s Lunar New Year holiday is offering some signs of a consumer spending pickup in the world s second-largest economy. Rail trips exceeded expectations, surpassing 2023, despite low confidence and deflationary pressures. The economy is struggling with a property crisis and consumer prices are dropping.
The weeklong holiday makes it more difficult to maintain production levels as cities and provinces are being hard-pressed to rev up China’s economic engine, driving up competition for labour resources.
Tourism packages abroad are costly versions of what they were in 2019, and flights are not expected to return to pre-pandemic capacity levels for at least several months.
Already the largest shipbuilding nation in the world, China will soon have completed one of the most technologically advanced modes of seafaring transport.