License to thrill

During a recent safety check by county authorities at Feilong Firecrackers, boss Li Junbao stood at the gate of his factory and shook his head. He complained that "ever-changing security standards" were making it harder to renew his production license.

A worker fits fuses into firecrackers on Dec 9 at a small factory in Liuyang, one of the major fireworks production bases in Hunan province. Authorities are trying to make the industry safer.

In 2005, the State Administration of Work Safety began issuing work safety permits and set a limit on the number of fireworks enterprises. By the end of 2010, China had gone from more than 10,000 registered factories to just 5,000. The goal is to reduce that number by another 1,000 by 2015.

Manufacturers also came under pressure last year from a series of new regulations and revised security standards.

On Nov 8, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice that further strengthened supervision of the manufacture, transport and display of fireworks and firecrackers. A ban was also placed on combination fireworks with inner cartridges, a move that many industry insiders say has had a "devastating" effect.

As 80 percent of factories make combination fireworks, with 95 percent of the products having inner cartridges, the ruling led to demands for urgent talks with China's leading work safety officials. At a special meeting to discuss the controversy, Li Hang, deputy mayor of Liuyang, called for calm and urged manufacturers to negotiate in a law-abiding manner.

Factories looking for safety licenses in the future will need mechanized production lines that meet high safety standards. In fact, according to a list published on Dec 29 by the State Administration of Work Safety, only 95 companies are allowed to produce aerial fireworks used for professional displays.

With many companies now merging (100 firms have already been reduced to 46), Liuyang officials hope the move will lead the industry to shift from small, family-run concerns to large and competitive companies.

With the annual Spring Festival holidays drawing near, the country's work safety authorities are already checking more than 450 fireworks production and wholesale companies across nine provinces.