With the approach of the Olympics, Beijing has published implementation measures of the Emergency Response Law on Sunday in a city newspaper.

The implementation measures, passed at the fourth session of the 13th Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress on May 23, were published in Beijing Daily, and come into effect on July 1, five weeks ahead of the Olympics, to reinforce public security during the event.

China had suffered from natural disasters and accidents this year, such as the snow disaster in south China, the Lhasa riot in March and the latest earthquake in Sichuan province, which have caused great losses to people's lives and property.

To raise the ability of quick and efficient response and guarantee the public security, the law was implemented on November 1, 2007, a spokesman of the State Council said earlier.

The implementation measures are required to be taken out by local governments respectively.

The measures published by the capital define the emergencies as incidents endangering public security, including natural disasters, accidents, public heath emergencies and social security incidents, and request the governments at different levels to established emergency response teams for information collection and organization work.

An improvement in the press release system is demanded by the governments.

According to the implementation measures, the governments of the city, regions and towns should build up an information publicity system. The press release and spokesman system should be improved and quick response processes should be formed on news reporting, information collecting and analysis. The organization work on press release and news reporting should be reinforced.

The media is also required to publicize the response work of the government and common knowledge on emergencies for free.

Emergency plans are required at public places such as stations, stadiums, theatres, hotels and scenic spots. Those who fail to take efficient measures will be fined for 50,000 to 200,000 yuan and have their business license revoked temporarily or permanently.

A hotline has been set up for the public to report the emergencies.

An anti-terrorist force of nearly 100,000 commandos, police and army troops had been on high alert for handling terrorist attacks before and during the Olympics, officials said 50 days ahead of the opening ceremony.

Beijing will soon start conducting security checks at all the subway stations. The capital also has 150,000 security personnel and more than 290,000 volunteers on patrol.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2008)