The Chinese government has completed an emergency counterplan package, with a total of 106 independent counterplans including a State Council's counterplan in general, 25 specific counterplans and 80 departmental counterplans, after 210,000 people were killed in a variety of unexpected incidents in 2004.
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State Councilor Hua Jianmin made a report on China's severe situation of production safety and the stipulation progress of the emergency counterplan package to China's legislators on Friday.
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The report said more than 200,000 Chinese citizens were killed and up to 2 million were injured in China every year, due to natural disasters, unexpected accidents in production and public sanitation emergencies.
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Facts have proved that a large number of deaths could be avoided, if effective emergency counterplans were available, the report said.
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Taking the lantern exhibition stampede, occurring in Miyun, suburb of Beijing in early 2004, as an example, if the local government stipulated an emergency counterplan on evacuating throngs in advance, there might be no casualty at all, but the stampede finally caused 37 died.
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"The aim to stipulate the emergency counterplan package is that establishing and improving social early warning system to public unexpected incidents and building up an effective emergency handling system," said Prof. Shan Chunchang, vice director of emergency counterplan drafting group under the General Office of the State Council.
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According to the State Council's general counterplan, China will release early warnings on public accidents, according to relevant department's prediction and analysis and will use four colors-- red, orange, yellow and blue, to demonstrate the accident's severity.
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The general counterplan also said if a severe public accident occurs, county government and provincial government concerned must make down-to-earth report to the State Council within four hours.
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Some local governments have already understood the importance of emergency counterplan. In Shanghai, the city's 17 governmental departments, including public security department, water resources department, electricity supply department, natural gas supply department, jointly set up an emergency counterplan.
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Once citizens dialed "110" for help, any department of the 17 will offer convenience in a short time.
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The east China coastal province Zhejiang stipulated a comprehensive typhoon early warning system and emergency counterplan. In 2004, the local government evacuated local citizens in time after receiving early warning, minimizing the casualty and economic loss.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2005)