China freight volumes during COVID pandemic

China’s National Bureau of Statistics has just published freight transportation statistics for 2020. It tells much about China’s seemingly inexorable rise and its ties to the tangible economy.
Despite the pandemic and its associated economic interruption, freight volumes were little changed. Overall, total freight metric tonne kilometers (a metric tonne is equal to approximately 1.1 US tons, which are also called “short tons”) dropped only 1.0 percent in 2020 compared to 2019. This includes freight carried by trucks, rail, vessels on inland waterways and air cargo. The report did not provide data on pipelines. Freight volumes fared much better than passenger volumes, which dropped 45%.