BEIJING - China's highways carried more than 29 billion passengers in the first ten months of the year, according to Ministry of Transport statistics Thursday.

The number of passengers rose 8.2 percent from the same period in 2011. Growth was 0.5 percentage points higher than that of the same period for last year.

At a press conference, He Jianzhong, the ministry spokeman said, "Major indicators of the transport sector including fixed-asset investment kept rising, though at a slower pace."

The overall situation in the sector showed strong signs of remaining stable, he added.

Goods transport also rose. The country's highways witnessed a 14.1-percent increase of cargo transport to 26.3 billion tons in the first ten months. However, the growth rate was 0.9 percentage points lower from 2011.

Large ports reported a 6.7-percent rise of cargo turnover to 8 billion tons. The growth rate was 7.1 percentage points lower than the same period last year.