Chapter III

Monitoring and Early Warning

Article 37 The State Council shall establish a unified national information system for emergencies.

Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall establish or designate unified local information systems for emergencies, to collect, store, analyze and transmit information on emergencies, and to have their systems interconnected with the emergency information systems of the people’s governments at higher levels and their relevant departments, the people’s governments at lower levels and their relevant departments, the specialized institutions and the emergency monitoring networks, in order to strengthen inter-departmental and inter-regional exchange of information and intelligence cooperation.

Article 38 People’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments and the specialized institutions shall collect information on emergencies through a variety of channels.

The people’s governments at the county level shall establish a full-time or part-time information reporter system in the resident’s committees, the villagers’ committees and the units concerned.

The citizens, legal persons and other organizations that get information on emergencies shall immediately report to the local people’s governments, the relevant competent departments or the designated specialized institutions.

Article 39 Local people’s governments at various levels shall, in compliance with the relevant State regulations, submit information on emergencies to the people’s governments at higher levels. The relevant competent departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level shall circulate the information on emergencies among the relevant departments of the said people’s governments. The specialized institutions, monitoring networks and information reporters shall, in a timely manner, impart information on emergencies to the local people’s governments and to the relevant competent departments of the same.

When the units and persons concerned who submit or report information on emergencies, they shall do it in a timely and objective manner and make sure that the information is authentic, and they may not delay such submission or report, give false report, or conceal or omit certain facts.

Article 40 Local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in a timely manner, collect and analyze the information on the hidden dangers that may lead to emergencies and the early warnings about emergencies and, when necessary, they shall organize consultation among the departments concerned, professional technicians, experts and scholars to assess the possibility of occurrence of emergencies and the repercussions of the emergencies; and if they believe that a serious or especially serious emergency is likely to occur, they shall report the matter to the people’ s government at the higher level without delay and notify the relevant departments of the people’s government at the higher level, the army units stationed there and the people’s governments of the adjacent or related areas which may be endangered.

Article 41 The State establishes a sound emergency monitoring system.

The people’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments shall, according to the types and characteristics of natural disasters, calamitous accidents and public health incidents, establish a sound basic information database, improve the monitoring networks, divide the regions for monitoring, determine the sites and define the items for monitoring, provide the necessary equipment and facilities, and assign full-time or part-time workers, in order to monitor potential emergencies.

Article 42 The State establishes a sound early warning system for emergencies.

According to degree of urgency of an emergency, its trend of development and the extent of damage it may cause, the early warnings about natural disasters, calamitous accidents and public health incidents that may be forewarned shall be classified in four grades: Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3 and Grade 4, which shall be indicated respectively in red, orange, yellow and blue, Grade 1 being the highest one.

The standard for classifying the grades of early warnings shall be established by the State Council or the departments designated by the State Council.

Article 43 When a natural disaster, calamitous accident or public health incident that can be forewarned is imminent or the possibility of its occurrence increases, the local people’s government at or above the county level shall, within the limits of its power and in compliance with the procedures, as prescribed by relevant laws and administrative regulations and by the State Council, give an alarm of the appropriate grade, decide and declare that the areas concerned enter a period of early warning and, at the same time, report the matter to the people’s government at the next higher level and, when necessary, it may do so by bypassing the government at the next higher level, and it shall notify the army units stationed there and the people’s governments of the adjacent or related areas which may be endangered.

Article 44 After giving the alarm of Grade 3 or 4 and declaring the beginning of the period of early warning, the local people’s government at or above the county level shall, in light of the characteristics of the imminent emergency and the damage it may cause, take the following measures:

(1) launching the precautionary plan in response to emergency;

(2) instructing the relevant departments, specialized institutions, monitoring networks and the persons charged with specified duties to collect and report the relevant information in a timely manner, announcing to the public the channels through which to report information about emergencies, and strengthening the monitoring, forecasting and forewarning of the occurrence and development of the emergency;

(3) organizing the relevant departments and institutions, professional technicians and the related experts and scholars to analyze and assess information on the emergency at any time, to predict the possibility of its occurrence, the scale and intensity of its repercussions and the grade of the potential emergency;

(4) regularly announcing the information forecast and the results of analysis and assessment in respect of the emergency which concerns the general public, and keeping control of the coverage of the relevant information; and

(5) according to relevant regulations, issuing warning to the public in a timely manner about the damage that the emergency may inflict on them, disseminating common knowledge about ways to avoid and mitigate the damage, and announcing telephone numbers for information.

Article 45 After giving the alarm of Grade 1 or 2 and declaring the beginning of the period of early warning, local people’s governments at or above the county level shall, in addition to the measures specified in Article 44 of this Law, take one or more of the following measures in light of the characteristics of the imminent emergency and the damage it may cause:

(1) instructing the emergency rescue teams and the persons charged with specified duties to await orders, and mobilizing the reserves to be well prepared for participating in emergency rescue and handling;

(2) assembling the materials, equipment and instruments needed for emergency rescue, preparing facilities and shelters for emergency use, and ensuring that they are in good repair and ready for normal use at any time;

(3) strengthening protection of the safety of key units, key positions and key infrastructures, and maintaining public security order;

(4) taking the necessary measures to guarantee safety and normal operation of such public facilities as the ones for transportation, communications, water supply, drainage, power supply, gas supply and heat supply;

(5) announcing to the public in a timely manner suggestions and advice on taking special measures to avoid or mitigate damage;

(6) helping the persons who are vulnerable to damage in the emergency to move to other places, disperse or evacuate, and having them properly resettled, and moving important property to other places;

(7) closing or restricting the use of such places as are vulnerable to damage in the emergency, and controlling or restricting such activities in public places as are liable to cause the expansion of the scale of damage; and

(8) other necessary preventive and protective measures as are provided for by laws, administrative regulations and rules.

Article 46 With respect to public security incidents that are imminent or have occurred, local people’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant competent departments shall, in accordance with the regulations, report the incidents to the people’s governments at the next higher level and their relevant competent departments and, when necessary, may report by passing the said level.

Article 47 The people’s government giving the alarm of an emergency shall, in accordance with the relevant regulations and, in light of the development of the situation, make an appropriate adjustment of the grade of the early warning and publish the same anew.

Where there are facts to prove that the occurrence of an emergency is unlikely or the danger has been eliminated, the people’s government that gives the alarm shall immediately announce the lifting of the alarm, terminate the period of early warning and call off the relevant measures taken.