BEIJING — The number of passenger trips during China's upcoming Spring Festival travel rush will rise sharply from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, a transport official said on Dec 29.

China's largest annual travel rush will last from Jan 17 to Feb 25 next year, said Ren Zhuoli, an official with the Ministry of Transport.

The number of passenger trips during the Spring Festival travel rush in 2022 will increase significantly from the 870 million trips made in 2021 Spring Festival travel rush, and even surpass the 1.48 billion trips recorded in the corresponding period in 2020, Ren said.

During the 40-day travel season, also known as chunyun, many Chinese people will travel to reunite with their families for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, which will fall on Feb 1, 2022.