Strong consumer demand during the Qingming holiday

BEIJING, April 6 — A reporter learned from the Ministry of Commerce that during the Qingming holiday, many places implemented extended spring breaks in a row, effectively boosting consumer demand and injecting vitality into the spring consumer market. According to the Ministry of Commerce’s business data, during the Qingming holiday, the average daily sales revenue of key retail and catering enterprises nationwide increased by 2.4% year over year. For 78 pedestrian streets (business districts) monitored by the Ministry of Commerce, passenger volumes and business revenues increased by 6.0% and 6.7% year over year, respectively.

Regarding commodity consumption, as of April 5, the total number of subsidies received for the 2026 auto trade-in program “replace used cars with new ones” was 1.53M, driving new car sales revenue of RMB 246.8 billion. For the trade-in of home appliances, and sales of digital and smart “upgrade and purchase new” products, 62.85M units were sold, driving sales revenue of RMB 215.97 billion. In terms of service consumption, during the Qingming holiday, the sales revenue of catering enterprises key monitored by the Ministry of Commerce increased by 3.9% year over year. For hotels’ accommodation consumption on key platforms, it increased by 2.6% year over year; the number of intercity trips increased by 15.1% year over year; theme park consumption increased by 11.7% year over year; orders for parent-child research and study doubled year over year; and the number of car-rental orders increased by about 40% year over year.

A reporter learned from the Ministry of Public Security that during the Qingming holiday, public security traffic administration departments nationwide actively responded to the safety and congestion risks brought by overlapping factors such as rain, snow, fog, Qingming memorial visits, outings in spring, and concentrated visits to relatives. Daily deployment of police personnel exceeded 161k person-times, and police vehicles exceeded 54k vehicle-times. Authorities scientifically optimized traffic organization, strictly supervised road traffic order, and made every effort to handle emergency traffic management during rainy, snowy, and foggy weather. They also provided timely travel guidance and reminders, effectively ensuring safe and smooth road traffic during the holiday.

A reporter learned from the Ministry of Transport that during the Qingming holiday, the total volume of people traveling across regions throughout society is expected to exceed 840 million person-times, with a daily average expected to exceed 280 million person-times, up 6% compared with the Qingming holiday in 2025.

A reporter learned from China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. that on April 6, the national railways saw a peak in passenger volumes for the holiday return trip. Passenger numbers are expected to reach 20.8 million, and 1,369 additional passenger trains are planned to be added. On April 5, national railways sent 161k passengers, and transportation safety remained steady, safe, and orderly.

(Reporters: Wang Ke, Zhang Tianpei, Han Xin, Li Xinping)

(Source: People’s Daily)