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. The National 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 same time as migrant workers, 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 US dollar has risen quickly in value because of the country’s accelerating economic growth and rising inflationary expectations, Yi said, adding that the yuan depreciated against the US dollar mainly because of unexpected reasons, including Donald Trump winning the US presidential election. The yuan has actually appreciated in value against several other main currencies, such as the euro, the Japanese yen, and the UK pound. It remains a stable currency in the world system.

Outbound investment

The NDRC, the Ministry of Commerce, the central bank and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange responded to media concerns about outbound investment. A spokesperson said that China’s outbound investment has seen stable growth for the past several years, which helped deepen China’s cooperation with other countries and upgrade its domestic economy.

China’s policies and principles for outbound investment are clear, namely, it sticks to the strategy of “going out” and managing outbound investment in accordance with global rules and global market standards. It will combine the efforts of promoting convenience of outbound investment and preventing risks. It will also regulate market order and examine outbound investment programs to prevent cheating.