China's passenger transport volume reported a year-on-year decline in the first quarter (Q1) of the year, data from the Ministry of Transport showed.

The country's transport network handled 1.54 billion passenger trips during the period, down 22.5 percent year on year, according to the ministry.

In breakdown, road passenger trips stood at 970 million, dropping by 26.1 percent year on year, while water passenger volume shrank 20.6 percent from one year earlier to 26.47 million trips.

The data also showed that the total passenger trips via public transport in 36 major Chinese cities stood at 10.91 billion in the quarter, decreasing by 10.7 percent from the same period last year.