Record-high photovoltaic exports, Chinese New Year travel bounced back

China’s solar energy product exports reached a record high of $51.25 billion in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 80.3%, according to the China Photovoltaic Industry Association. Modules, i.e. complete solar panels, accounted for the largest proportion of exports at $42.36 billion, an increase of 70%. Europe was China’s fastest growing and largest regional market, accounting for about 55% of total exports.

Chinese New Year travel bounced back: 1.595 billion individual passengers traveled across China during the 40 days of the Spring Festival travel season, or chūnyùn 春运, that ended on February 15. The total amount of trips was 4.733 billion. This is an increase of 50.5% over the 2022 Spring Festival travel period, but still only accounts for 53.5% of the 2.98 billion travelers during the 2019 Spring Festival. Railways and aviation transported 348 million and 55 million passengers, respectively, accounting for 85.5% and 76% of the levels of 2019.

Air travel is back too: In January, Chinese airlines completed 39.77 million passenger trips, a year-on-year increase of 34.8%, according to the Civil Aviation Administration. The total turnover of civil aviation transportation, passenger traffic, and cargo and mail traffic increased by 26.1%, 39%, and 5.7%, respectively, compared with December, and accounted for 69.5%, 74.5%, and 72.9% of the levels of 2019.