Year of the horse signals optimism and opportunity, with authorities keen that the extra day of holiday this year provides an economic boost
Chinese officials are hoping that this year’s extra long lunar new year holiday will provide a boost to the country’s economy, where increasing domestic spending has been identified as a key priority for the year ahead.
The government expects a record 9.5 billion passenger trips to be made across China during the 40-day spring festival period, up from 9 billion trips last year. Hundreds of millions of people will be crisscrossing the country to make what is often their only trip home to see their families for the Chinese new year celebrations.
Although China is no longer the world’s most populous country, losing that title to India in 2023, China’s annual chunyun, or “spring transportation” is still the world’s largest mass migration of people.
The official lunar new year holiday will be nine days this year, rather than the typical eight, giving people a longer break to spend their holiday hongbao, red packets of cash given to relatives during the festive period. The holiday period runs from 15-23 February, with New Year’s Day falling on 17 February.
