To ensure zero deaths, maintained at fireworks revelry during the Spring Festival since 2001, the Shanghai Fire Control Bureau said yesterday it will continue to strictly control sales of crackers and clamp down on illegal dealers this year.

The bureau's intentions are clear as it outlined the limitations a good two months ahead of next year's Chinese lunar New Year, which falls on January 22.

Bureau officials said yesterday the strict citywide campaign tracing illegal fireworks - meaning those without permit or of bad quality - will last until the Spring Festival.

Because the city itself does not have any fireworks manufacturing plants, the crackdown will focus on stopping the flow from neighboring provinces and digging out intra-city hideouts.

According to the bureau's Zhou Meiliang, only 1,000 stores in the city will be allowed to sell fireworks, which is the main entertainment for Chinese to welcome the lunar New Year.

Officials said the early action this year has been necessitated because the bureau found that in recent years illegal traffickers were bringing in fireworks into Shanghai much ahead of schedule, even starting in July.

Locals normally spend 25 to 30 million yuan (US$3.05 to 3.66 million) on fireworks every Spring Festival, while the legal source is believed to be far less to meet the demand, leaving avenues open for illegal operators, officials said.

The bureau will allow only some 70 types of fireworks to be used and sold in the city next year, all of which will be carefully tested for the height they reach and power.

The area and time for setting off the firecrackers will see the same limitation as in previous years, the bureau added.

The time limit is from 8 pm on January 21, New Year's eve, to 12:30 am the next day. The same limits apply during the first three days of the New Year.

The banned zones will include busy downtown streets and areas like People's Square, Lujiazui in Pudong and Nanjing Road Pedestrian Mall.

Since 2001, no deaths have been reported due to fireworks, thanks to the strict check and crackdown before the festival, officials insisted.

During the Spring Festival in 2000, fireworks ignited 182 fires, killing a 13-year-old boy and a migrant worker while 96 people were injured.

(Shanghai Daily November 22, 2003)