BEIJING, April 27 -- China's passenger and freight transport posted steady growth in the first quarter of 2023, data from the Ministry of Transport showed on Thursday.

Public travel recovered significantly from January to March, with urban passenger traffic reaching 20.9 billion people, Su Jie, an official with the ministry, told a press conference.

"There are more and more cars on the road, and the flow of people has increased significantly," Su said.

Freight volume reached 11.87 billion tonnes during the period, up 5 percent year on year. Cargo throughput of ports rose 6.2 percent from a year earlier to 3.85 billion tonnes, Su said.

Fixed-asset investment in the transport sector jumped 13.3 percent year on year to 720.5 billion yuan (about 104.11 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter.