China's rail freight transport volume, an indicator of broad economic activity, rose 3.6 percent year on year in the first half of the year, a sign of recovery from the COVID-19 shock, official data showed Saturday.

The country's state-operated railways carried 1.69 billion tonnes of cargo in the first six months, the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. said.

During the January-June period, revenues from the rail freight transport dipped 4.2 percent from the previous year to 187.7 billion yuan (about 26.9 billion U.S. dollars).In June alone, the average daily rail freight volume exceeded 10 million tonnes, the highest daily average level in a month since the beginning of this year, the company said.

State-operated railways handle the majority of the country's rail freight traffic. Apart from state-operated railways, China also has rail lines operated by local governments and enterprises.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)