Chapter II

Prevention of, and Preparation for Response to, Emergencies

Article 17 The State establishes a sound precautionary system for emergency response.

The State Council shall be responsible for making the overall precautionary plans in response to national emergencies and organizing the making of special precaution plans in response to specific national emergencies; and the relevant departments of the State Council shall, in compliance with their respective duties and the relevant precautionary plans made by the State Council, be responsible for making their departmental precautionary plans in response to national emergencies.

Local people’s governments at all levels and the relevant departments of the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the relevant laws, regulations, rules, and the precautionary plans in response to emergencies made by the people’s governments at higher levels and their relevant departments and in light of the actual local conditions, make appropriate precautionary plans in response to emergencies.

The authority making precautionary plans in response to emergencies shall make timely modification of the same according to actual needs and changes in the situation. The procedures for making and modifying precautionary plans in response to emergencies shall be formulated by the State Council.

Article 18 In a precautionary plan in response to an emergency shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the relevant laws and regulations and in light of the nature and characteristics of the emergency and the potential social harm it may caused, be specified the organizational setup of command in response to the emergency and the duties of administration, the mechanism for prevention and early warning, the procedure for emergency handling, the guarantee measures for emergency response, the measures for post-emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction, etc.

Article 19 Urban or rural planning shall meet the need for prevention and handling of an emergency, overall arrangement shall be made for the equipment and infrastructure necessitated for emergency response, and the sites of shelters for emergency shall be rationally located.

Article 20 The people’s government at the county level shall, within its administrative area, check and register the sources of danger, which are liable to give rise to natural disasters, calamitous accidents and public health accidents, and the dangerous areas, assess the risks, regularly inspect and monitor such sources and areas, and order the units concerned to take safety and prevention measures.

The people’s government of a province or of a city divided into districts shall, within its administrative area, check and register the sources of danger, which are liable to give rise to especially serious or serious emergencies, and the dangerous areas, and assess the risks, organize inspection and monitoring of such sources and areas, and order the units concerned to take safety and prevention measures.

The sources of danger and the dangerous areas registered according to the provisions of this Law by the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with State regulations, be made known to the public in a timely manner.

Article 21 The people’s governments at the county level and their relevant departments, the people’s governments at the township level, the neighbourhood offices, the residents’ committees and the villagers’ committees shall, in a timely manner, mediate and handle the conflicts and disputes which may cause incidents endangering public security.

Article 22 Every unit shall establish a sound safety control system, regularly inspect the implementation of all its safety and prevention measures, and eliminate the hidden dangers in a timely manner; it shall grasp the problems existing in the unit which may cause incidents endangering public security and deal with them in a timely manner, in order to prevent the conflicts from intensifying and the situation from going out of control; and it shall report, in a timely manner and as required, the emergency which may occur in the unit and the safety and prevention measures taken therefor to the people’s government or its relevant department at the place where the unit is located. Article 23 Mines, construction units, and the units manufacturing, distributing, storing, transporting or using such hazardous articles as inflammable and explosive substances, hazardous chemicals and radioactive substances shall make precautionary plans in response to specific emergencies, conduct screening inspection of the production and business premises and the buildings and structures where hazardous articles are placed and the peripheries, to see if there are hidden dangers, and take timely measures to eliminate them, if any, in order to prevent the occurrence of emergencies.

Article 24 The units that operate or manage public means of transportation, public places or other places with a high concentration of people shall make precautionary plans in response to specific emergencies, install alarm devices and the necessary emergency rescue and relief equipment and facilities on the means of transportation and in the relevant places, clearly indicate their usage, mark the passages and routes for safe evacuation, and ensure that the safety passages and exits are unblocked.

The relevant units shall have the alarm devices and the emergency rescue and relief equipment and facilities regularly checked and maintained, in order that they are kept in good repair and ready for normal use.

Article 25 People’s governments at or above the county level shall establish a sound training system for control of emergencies and provide regular training to the staff members of the people’s governments and of their relevant departments who are charged with the duty to handle emergencies.

Article 26 People’s governments at or above the county level shall mobilize their resources for emergency response, and organize or designate teams for all-round emergency rescue and relief. The relevant departments of the people’s governments may, in light of actual need, organize professional teams for emergency rescue and relief.

People’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments may organize emergency rescue teams which are composed of adult volunteers. Each unit shall organize a full-time or part-time team for emergency rescue, which is composed of the staff members of the unit.

People’s governments at or above the county level shall help strengthen cooperation between professional and non-professional teams for emergency rescue, by conducting joint trainings and drills, in order to increase their ability of combined and coordinated response to emergencies.

Article 27 The relevant departments of the State Council, and of the local people’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments, and the units concerned shall purchase life and accident insurance for professional emergency rescuers, and provide them with the necessary protective gears and instruments to reduce the personal risks of the emergency rescuers.

Article 28 The Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force and the militia shall, in a planned way, organize and conduct special training for emergency rescue.

Article 29 People’s governments at the county level and their relevant departments, people’s governments at the township level, and the neighbourhood offices shall organize and conduct dissemination of the knowledge on emergency response and the necessary emergency response drills.

The residents’ committees, villagers’ committees, enterprises and institutions shall, in compliance with the requirements of the people’ government at the place where they are located and in light of their respective actual conditions, conduct dissemination of the knowledge on emergency response and the necessary emergency response drills.

The news media shall, for the public good, disseminate gratis the knowledge on prevention of and response to emergencies, and on self-rescue and mutual rescue.

Article 30 Different types of schools at various levels shall include the knowledge on emergency response in their teaching curriculums, and educate students in the said knowledge, in order to help them foster their awareness of the importance of safety and acquire the ability of self-rescue and mutual rescue.

The departments in charge of education shall give guidance to and supervise the schools in their efforts to spread knowledge on emergency response among the students.

Article 31 The State Council and the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall take fiscal measures to guarantee provision of the funds needed for emergency response.

Article 32 The State establishes a sound guarantee system for material reserves for emergency response, and improve the system of control, production, reservation, allocation and urgent distribution of the important materials for emergency response.

People’s governments at or above the level of a city divided into districts, and people’s governments at the county level where emergencies are liable to occur or occur frequently, shall establish a system for reservation of materials for emergency rescue, of the daily necessities and of the gears for emergency handling.

Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in light of their actual local conditions, sign agreements with the enterprises concerned to ensure the production and supply of the materials for emergency rescue, of daily necessities and of the gears for emergency handling.

Article 33 The State establishes a sound guarantee system for emergency communications, improve the public communications network, build an emergency communications system whereby wired and wireless communications are combined and the basic telecommunications network is integrated with the mobile communications system, in order to ensure unblocked communications for emergency response.

Article 34 The State encourages citizens, legal persons and other organizations to provide materials, funds and technical support and make donations to the people’s governments for the work on response to emergencies.

Article 35 The State develops the insurance industry, establishes a risk insurance system for huge disasters, which is financed by the government, and encourages units and citizens to purchase insurance.

Article 36 The State encourages and supports the teaching and scientific research institutions which meet the appropriate conditions to train people to become professionals in administration of emergency response, and encourages and supports such institutions and the enterprises concerned to research and develop new technologies, equipment and instruments for prevention, monitoring and early warning of emergencies and for emergency handling and rescue.