BEIJING — China recorded surging use of public transport in urban areas in the first half of this year (H1), official data showed.

In the January-June period, the number of passenger trips using public transport in 36 major cities reached 26.52 billion, jumping 56.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The figure was 19.4 percent lower compared with the same period in 2019, resulting in a 10.2 percent drop on average in the two-year span.

More specifically, the number of bus passengers increased 41.4 percent year-on- year in the first six months, while that of rail passengers soared 83.6 percent, the ministry said.

China's fixed-asset investment in transport expanded 8.3 percent year-on-year to 1.57 trillion yuan (about $243 billion) in the first half of this year.