The State Council, China's cabinet, issued on Sunday a national
plan on emergency response, which will become a guidance on
prevention and treatment of various incidents in China.
The emergency response plan aims to increase the government's
capability to protect public safety, deal with unexpected
incidents, minimize the losses of the incidents, maintain social
stability, and promote the harmonious and sustainable development
of the country.
The plan stipulates that the State Council is the highest organ
in the management of emergency response. An office in charge of
emergency response management will be set up by the State Council
to collect information of various incidents and coordinate the
emergence response work.
The plan details the prescriptions on various aspects including
forecast, report, emergency response, investigation and evaluation
of incidents. It also clarifies the responsibilities of the
departments in the fields of manpower, finance, material resources,
transportation, medical care, communications and so on.
Those who make outstanding contributions to emergency response
will be awarded, while those who fail to report the true state of
incidents or cover up accidents will be punished according to law
and regulations, the plan says.
Incidents are divided into four categories by the plan,
including natural disasters, accidents, public health incidents and
social safety incidents. They are also ranked into four classes
according to the incident's character, its degree of harm, its
controlling possibility and its scale of influence.
The plan applies to dealing with serious incidents involving
several provinces.
All the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have
also made corresponding plans. Therefore, an elementary emergency
response framework has been set up in China.
(Xinhua News Agency January 8, 2006)