请将下面这段话翻译成英文：

黄金周(the Golden Week)是指连续7天的全国性假期。1999年，中国开始推行黄金周政策。从那以后，黄金周通过鼓励人们旅游和消费，丰富了人们的日常生活，促进了社会经济的发展。然而不可否认，黄金周带来的问题也日益明显：交通拥堵、旅游景点人满为患以及物价上涨。2012年，中国政府宣布重大节假日期间全国高速公路免收通行费，其中就包括春节和国庆两个7天假期，这一政策从某种程度上又导致了出行车辆和人数的增加。

参考翻译:

The Golden Week refers to a consecutive seven-day national holiday. In 1999, China started to carry out the Golden Week policy. Since then, the Golden Week has enriched people’s daily life and promoted the development of social economy by encouraging people to travel and spend. Nevertheless, there is no denying that the problems caused by the Golden Week are getting obvious, such as the traffic jams, overcrowded tourist spots and rising prices. In 2012，the Chinese government announced that expressways nationwide would be toll-free during important holidays, including the two seven-day holidays around the Spring Festival and the National Day, which, to some degree led to the highly increased number of vehicles and people going out.