[HONG KONG] Chinese people travelled more over the three-day Dragon Boat holiday this year, but spending remained below pre-pandemic levels, government data showed on Tuesday (Jun 3) – indicators that are closely watched as barometers of consumer confidence.

Consumption in the world’s second-largest economy has suffered amid sputtering growth and a prolonged property crisis, with uncertainty from the US-China trade war also weighing on consumer confidence.

The latest data painted a mixed picture for China’s consumer economy. Travellers took an estimated 119 million domestic journeys from Friday to Monday, up 5.7 per cent from the same holiday period last year, according to the Ministry for Tourism and Culture.

Overall spending over the period rose to 42.73 billion yuan (S$7.7 billion), a year-on-year increase of 5.9 per cent, but the average amount spent per traveller was a little under 360 yuan, according to Reuters calculations, remaining stubbornly below 2019 levels of around 410 yuan per trip.

The Dragon Boat Festival took place from May 31 to Jun 2 – and is celebrated throughout the country with local dragon boat races. Many people take the opportunity to have short holidays, crowding train stations and airports around the country.

Cross-border journeys rose 2.7 per cent to 5.9 million, with 231,000 foreign nationals entering the country visa-free during the holiday, broadcaster CCTV said late on Monday.

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China has been expanding its visa policy, with citizens of 43 countries granted visa-free access, while visa-free transit for up to 240 hours in China is available for 54 countries.

Rail lines saw the peak of return passenger flow on Jun 2, with authorities adding 1,279 trains to more than 11,000 passenger trains overall across the country, while road travel was up 3 per cent year on year, with 600 million car journeys recorded, mostly travelling short distances.

Chinese also boosted spending on entertainment over the holiday, with cinema box office revenue reaching 460 million yuan, surpassing last year’s 384 million yuan, according to data from online ticketing platform Maoyan.

Tom Cruise’s latest movie Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning topped charts, and generated 228 million yuan, half of the total revenue during the holiday period, which was seen as a positive indicator for the upcoming summer season. REUTERS