Li Keqiang’s annual, 42-page “work report” to China’s parliament is packed with obscure details on matters such as mobile roaming and urban utility tunnels. But one of China’s biggest policy initiatives of 2016 — the reimposition of capital controls — went unmentioned in the premier’s address to the National People’s Congress.

While Mr Li promised to maintain the renminbi’s “stable position in the global monetary system”, there was no reference to the measures that have made it more difficult for Chinese companies, individuals and foreign investors to move money out of the country. 

The Great Hall of the People, however, has been abuzz with talk among Chinese lawmakers about the controversial capital controls. Some criticise the measures as a step backwards for the country’s financial reforms; others praise them as necessary to slow the renminbi’s fall against the dollar and halt the drain on China’s foreign exchange reserves.