BEIJING -- Over 285 million inter-regional passenger trips are predicted across China on Sunday, the first day of this year's nine-day Spring Festival holiday.

The figure represents a 10.5 percent increase from the same period last year, the Ministry of Transport said on Sunday.

Trips by road are expected to increase 10.8 percent year-on-year to total 268.75 million on Sunday, while journeys by rail and air are predicted to rise 4.3 percent and 6.4 percent. Waterway passenger trips on Sunday are expected to surge 28.1 percent year-on-year.

The Spring Festival, which is also known as Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year. Though the official holiday lasts for nine days, this year's travel rush began on Feb 2 and will continue until March 13.