Experts have called on the government to speed up the
establishment of a more effective public emergency response system
following the occurrence of a number of natural disasters and
accidents.
Wang Zhijian, deputy chief executive of the National Workplace
Emergency Center, said China lags far behind developed countries in
disaster prevention and in rescue work.
"Our rescue teams lack adequate equipment," he said.
"Rescuers often work in dangerous areas, and we usually don't
receive timely information on cross-regional accidents, as there is
still difficulty in information sharing."
Fan Weicheng of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said China
is working on a rapid-response system encompassing the central
government and grassroots units to tackle emergencies.
"Governments at all levels are busy setting up an emergency
response management bureau, and drafting a law regulating
counter-measures to be taken in emergency cases," he said.
In the advent of a serious emergency, how to achieve
surveillance, get to know the situation at first hand, predict
developing trends and consequences, as well as to make the right
decisions, are all a rapid response system should be able to do, he
said.
Such a system will consist of emergency command centers,
available supporting hardware and software, as well as a
pre-installed analysis program.
"In case of an emergency, the system will produce several viable
plans, and make predictions based on an analysis of the situation
on the spot, for commanders to decide," he said.
Qiu Ruitian, deputy director of the Office of State Flood
Control and Draught Relief Headquarters, said the country needs to
upgrade its disaster prevention work in case of floods or
droughts.
Global climate change is triggering more adverse weather in the
country, he said.
"The number of rainstorms, and temperatures are increasing, and
more frequent droughts and typhoons of greater scale have been
occurring in recent years," Qiu said.
Seven typhoons and tropical storms hit the country last year.
The first typhoon, Chanchu, last year occurred 40 days earlier than
usual, and typhoon Bilis lasted the longest on record.
Severe droughts were also prevalent last year, with many rivers
and lakes drying up.
The water level of the Yangtze River hit a record low during the
same period, and an extremely serious drought plagued Southwest
China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, advents rarely
seen in the past century.
(China Daily May 16, 2007)