China's railway network has carried more than 500 million passenger trips so far during the summer holidays, according to data released by the country's railway operator on Wednesday, adding to growing signs of strong vitality in China's travel sector, which has become a crucial driver for consumption.

Between July 1 and August 6, a total of 513 million passenger trips were carried by the country's railway network, representing year-on-year growth of 5.4 percent, data from China State Railway Group Co showed. During the period, the daily number of passenger trips averaged 13.86 million, the operator said.

"During this year's summer holiday period, there has been very strong demand for travel," an official with China State Railway Group Co said, pointing to large flows of travel by students and tourists.

Running from July 1 to August 31, the summer holiday period is a peak travel season in China. This year, China State Railway Group Co expects total railway passenger trips will reach 860 million, compared to 830 million trips during last year's summer holiday period.

In addition to railway passenger trips, China's civil aviation industry is also expected to see robust demand during this year's summer holidays. The Civil Aviation Administration of China forecast that air passenger trips will reach 133 million during the period.

The initial numbers suggest that this year's summer travel is widely expected to surpass that of last year, which would offer a great boost for consumption, the biggest driver of economic growth. For some context, during the summer period in 2023, domestic tourism trips reached 1.839 billion, which generated tourism revenue of 1.21 trillion yuan ($168.56 billion), according to the China Tourism Academy.

Since the start of 2024, China has seen a solid tourism boom. In the first half of the year, total domestic tourism trips had already reached 2.725 billion, up 14.3 percent year-on-year, while total tourism spending hit 2.73 trillion yuan, up 19 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Boosting tourism is part of China's broader effort to increase consumption, which has become a top priority in the country's economic work. Officials have repeatedly said that they will put boosting consumption in a more prominent position so as to ensure stable economic growth.

Analysts said that more policy measures are expected to be rolled out in the second half of 2024 to boost consumption, after recent top meetings stressed the need to take concrete efforts to achieve annual economic growth targets.

A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on July 30, which focused on the economic work in the second half of 2024, noted that the emphasis should be placed on boosting consumption to expand domestic demand, and the focus of economic policies should shift toward bringing real benefits to the people and promoting consumption. The meeting stressed the need to support consumption in cultural tourism, elderly care, childcare, domestic services and other areas.