According to preliminary statistics from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, China’s recreational sites reported revenues of 113 billion RMB (17 billion dollars) between Saturday and Wednesday, accounting for a year-on-year increase of 138.1 percent.

Revenues from cinemas also increased and exceeded 1.6 billion RMB (more than 247 million dollars) during the same period.

Similarly, China reported great dynamism in retail sales of consumer goods, gastronomic services, hotels, railroad and air transportation.

China extended the holidays for May 1 from one to five days starting in 2019, precisely to encourage travels and spending on leisure activities by the population.

The ministry projected the continued recovery in domestic consumption and tourism, although it emphasized that it will be slow for some time, due to the high proportion of short-distance trips, free tickets and large-scale discounts.

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