BEIJING- A record 2.3 billion passenger trips will be taken in China during the upcoming Lunar New Year period, the country's most important holiday, state media said on Thursday.

A record 188 million people will take to the nation's rail system and another 24 million will take holiday-related flights in January and February, the China Daily said, in what is the world's biggest annual migration.

The yearly exodus is marked by chaotic scenes as masses of Chinese desperate to return home overwhelm the nation's transport grid.

Earlier this year, the chaos was compounded dramatically by freak winter ice storms that spread misery across a huge swathe of the country just as the migration was getting under way.

The official Chinese New Year holiday for 2009 falls on January 26, earlier than most years. However, the travel rush usually begins up to two weeks before that.

Citing the government's main economic planning agency, the China Daily said 2009 could see more chaos as this Chinese New Year follows closely after the Western New Year on January 1.

Many college students and other people typically travel just before or after the Western New Year and the upcoming holidays could see both migrations swamping the transport system at the same time, it said.

The National Development and Reform Commission also warned local governments to take steps to handle the expected crush, particularly in coastal manufacturing regions.

Migrant workers labouring in such areas comprise the bulk of the New Year travellers and they suffered most during last year's storms.

The report also said heavy snows were expected in some regions during that period.