Measures taken to improve traffic across Qiongzhou Strait

A total of 4 million passengers and 830,000 vehicles are expected to travel across the Qiongzhou Straits by ferry during the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush, up 9.59 percent and 21 percent from last year respectively.

Zhanjiang, located at the southernmost tip of the Chinese mainland, faces Hainan province across the Qiongzhou Strait. It provides the shortest route from Hainan Island to the Chinese mainland.

A passenger vessel leaves Haikou's Xiuying Port. [Photo/Xinhua] 

The 40-day Spring Festival travel rush from Jan 21 to March 1 will see surging traffic congestion as hundreds of millions of Chinese people, primarily college students and migrant workers, journey home to reunite with their families.

To ensure the smooth flow of traffic, ship-loading and stowage time will be cut from 120 minutes to less than 90 minutes, according to a recent water transport deployment meeting.