Record travel, packed cinemas and a retail surge signal rising confidence in the world’s second-largest economy
Drivers merge onto expressway lanes after passing through the Wuzhuang toll station in Chuzhou, eastern China's Anhui Province on February 22, 2026, at the end of the Spring Festival holiday marking the Year of the Horse. Photo: AFP
China’s record-breaking nine-day Spring Festival holiday has unleashed a powerful wave of consumer activity, delivering a broad-based boost to travel, retail, dining and entertainment and offering policymakers an encouraging early-year signal for the world’s second-largest economy, according to the Chinese media.
By extending the traditional seven-day Lunar New Year break to nine consecutive days in 2026, authorities effectively created a “segmented holiday” model. Families were able to complete customary reunions and still carve out time for leisure travel or discretionary spending.
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