Nation handles accident, yuan rate

Ministries have responded to a series of public and media concerns about policy implementation and recent incidents over the past week, including an accident in a power plant in Jiangxi province, the renminbi exchange rate, vocational license regulation, and environmental protection.

The State Administration of Work Safety, affiliated to the State Council, published an open letter on its official website to report an accident on Nov 24 at a power plant in Fengcheng, East China’s Jiangxi province. A construction platform for a cooling tower collapsed, killing 74 and injuring another two, mostly construction workers.

The SAWS said that upon receiving information about the accident, they sent out working teams to the site to help the local government with rescue operations and dealing with the aftermath. It asked safety administrations at all levels to conduct a special inspection of construction sites and check the stability of scaffolds and other devices related to worker safety. It also requires local governments to make clear the accountability of officials for construction accidents, and hold any official accountable for neglecting safety.

Yi Gang, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, told Xinhua News Agency late on Sunday that the yuan remains a stable and strong currency in the global monetary system, and it cannot be ruled out that the US dollar could drop.