BEIJING, June 14 -- China's railways handled about 1.73 billion passenger trips in the first five months of this year, representing a year-on-year growth of 20.2 percent, data from the country's railway operator shows.

During the period, an average of 10,463 passenger trains were operated daily, up 12.7 percent year on year, according to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).

Railway passenger trips in China hit a record high of over 20.69 million on the first day of the five-day May Day holiday, the company said.

The company also beefed up its capabilities for transporting cross-border passengers in the first five months. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed Railway reported about 10.78 million passenger trips during the period, up 79.3 percent from a year earlier.

The China-Laos railway reported 107,000 cross-border passenger trips during the period. International passenger train services between Hohhot and Ulaanbaatar were also resumed, according to China Railway.