Spring Festival travel rush. Photo: VCG

China's National Development and Reform Commission along with other 14 government agencies issued guidance for the impending 2022 Spring Festival travel rush on Thursday, which stressed the need to keep the national transportation system operating smoothly during the annual migration of Chinese returning to their hometowns for reunions. 

The guidance called for implementing a peak-balancing travel plan to trim surges of population flow and vows to guard against "one-size-fits-all" policies, and reduce unnecessary checking of passengers' health code amid the government's efforts to prevent coronavirus from wildly spreading in the country.

Aside from normal quarantine checks across the transport system, authorities also vowed to increase transportation capacity and formulate backup plans in case of emergency.

The 40-day-travel rush for the 2022 Spring Festival will start from January 17 and is scheduled to end on February 25, covering the duration of the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. 

Global Times