Ministries responded to inquiries

Ministries have responded to a series of concerns from the public and media outlets.

Spring Festival travel

On Jan 13, the annual Spring Festival travel rush, or the wave of people returning home for family reunions, will start. TheNational Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the China Railway Corp, together with some other ministries, jointly required local agencies and government departments to ensure the safety of passengers during that season.

In 2017, the number of passengers is expected to reach 2.97 billion during the Spring Festival season, 2.2 percent higher than this year. As the rush comes 11 days earlier than this year, college students will travel home at almost the sametime as migrantworkers, which will add to the peak crowds.

Weather could possibly be more of a factor during that period, with it being extremely cold in northern regions and heavy smog a possibility.

The ministries required local agencies to check capacity deficiencies and fill in the blanks to help all passengers arrive safely.

Stable yuan

Yi Gang, vice-governor of the People’s Bank of China, the Central Bank, responded to public concerns over the yuan’s exchange rate in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency. Yi said that the yuan, which is about 6.9 against the US dollar, has continued to show characteristics of a robust, stable currency in the global currency system, even though its exchange rate against the US dollar has depreciated recently.

the expected number of passengers during the 2017 Spring Festival season