BEIJING - The Chinese central government in Beijing pledged Saturday that it would work to ensure smooth and safe traveling for the public as many return home to reunite with families during the Spring Festival.

It is expected that some 700 million people are to travel during a 40-day Spring Festival travel period that began Wednesday, but heavy snow and icy rain, which has continued since the new year began, has disrupted traffic and cut water and power supplies to some regions in south and southwest China.

The lingering freezing weather also poses great challenges to transportation and railway authorities, as they work to avoid another travel disaster, as was seen in early 2008 when unprecedented heavy snow and freezing rain inundated the south of the country, bringing traffic to a standstill at the peak holiday season.

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Due to this, the Ministry of Public Security announced on Saturday that it had drawn upon the experiences gained from the 2008 weather disaster, and has ordered local bureaus to begin planning precautionary measures to combat the freezing weather.

It also issued orders to local departments beginning in late December to step up snow clearance and make sure expressways and key trunk lines are not closed by snow.

"More police will be deployed to maintain traffic order and security, and to reduce offences such as drunk driving, speeding, passenger overloading of cars and trucks, and driving while fatigued," Huang Ming, Vice Minister of Public Security, said in a press conference held in Beijing.

Meanwhile, over 8,300 service stops would be established across the country in order to provide necessities such as water and medical help to drivers and migrant works returning home for the festival.

China's meteorological authority forecast Saturday that snowy weather will weaken in most regions over the next three days, but the eastern areas in southwest China will continue to see more rain and snow.

On Sunday, the weather forecast anticipated that moderate snow would hit some regions in Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, and Hainan, as the southwestern province of Guizhou will see more icy rain.

Local authorities said nearly 10 million have been affected in Hunan after a blizzard that started Monday, which also forced the evacuation of 73,000 people. About 15 power lines were shut down and 132 roads were closed because of snow and icy rain in Guangxi.

As the freezing weather makes travel on roads more difficult, railway stations are seeing surges in passenger numbers.

An official with the Ministry of Railways (MOR) said nearly 4.8 million passengers took trains on January 19, the first day of the travel peak season this year, up 11.9 percent compared to the corresponding day last year. The next day, over 4.9 million passengers traveled on railways, up 17.5 percent. The Nanchang railway station even saw passenger number jump 30 percent.

The MOR said earlier that it would run an additional 293 pairs of trains per day during the rush period in order to meet climbing passenger demand.

Further, the Vice Minister of the country's National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic planning body, said the ministry would work with other government departments to implement multiple measures in maintaining a stable supply of coal, electricity, oil, and gas so that residents' demands for heating and power use can be met during the festival.

The traditional Chinese Spring Festival, or chun jie in Chinese, is the country's most important festival. It falls on February 3 this year. Workers nationwide enjoy a seven-day holiday that ends on February 8.