Another example is Chinese residential buildings, which do not have enough fire hydrants with folding tubes. Some foreign buildings even have oxygen reserves. Our standards are lower. During a rescue operation, our firefighters have to go back to ground level repeatedly to refill their oxygen. It wastes time.

But I think the biggest gap is in safety consciousness. From government departments right through to the public, our safety consciousness and our sense of law are relatively weak.

Some local governments attach great importance to food supply projects, which is understandable, because people need to eat. Some attach great importance to projects that are good for their image. But some areas are neglected.

After an accident, there will be more attention to fire safety for a while but then vigilance will relapse.

In the pursuit of progress, safety rules are neglected. This is something that is not easy to change. We need to persist.

Citizens' safety awareness is lower than in foreign countries.

I think this problem reflects our stage of development. We have high-rise buildings and wide roads, but urban management is still relatively underdeveloped. I believe that this situation will gradually get better.

GT: There is a lot of talk about preventive measures. To avoid similar tragedies, what risk reduction measures do firefighters recommend? In foreign countries, fire drills are carried out in residential buildings and fire trucks are seen roaring through the streets. Can China take similar measures?

Chen: Drills are very useful and we need to improve in this area. I have seen foreign drills and they are very realistic. At the firefighting university in Japan, they bring grass-roots commanders together for training.

The topics are not decided beforehand, but chosen by the group on the spot. They use three-dimensional computer maps, decide the location of the fire and then officers from different places take turns managing the situation.

Afterward, they analyze each other's performance in terms of the response options they chose.

We have firefighting training in China but not at this level. Topics are often pre-determined and more attention is paid to the process; there are equipment constraints and many backward ideas. The emphasis is on knowledge input rather than operational training, so the results are not ideal.

But we cannot throw out our previous training and drills just because of the Shanghai fire. For example, we conducted a drill in Dalian on January 6 last year, which was useful when the July 16 fire broke out in Dalian.

We need to devise solutions that match the reality of fires. Each fire has specific characteristics but also some common features.

Apart from natural factors, there is generally some infringement of fire prevention rules or fire regulations and state rules. To enhance fire prevention and improve our firefighting capabilities, we must first adhere to the law.

GT: The Jiaozhou Road fire broke out shortly after Shanghai Expo ended. In 2009, the fire in the new CCTV building in Beijing broke out shortly after the Olympic Games ended. Some Internet users have wondered whether a fire would break out in Guangzhou after the Asian Games. What they are inferring is that firefighting slackens off after mass events. Is this fair?

Chen: Yes, I think this is fair criticism. Netizens are right to point to a relaxation of firefighting awareness. They use spicy, provocative language to send us a warning. We have to accept their criticism. We have to draw lessons from recent tragedies and must not make the same mistakes time and again.

We are very vigilant at large events but sometimes we relax our vigilance afterward. This is a problem we have to resolve. There is a random element in every fire, but common features too. We must not slacken off after major events.

Firefighting is a long-term effort. What we want to achieve is a situation where adherence to the law is the norm. When the strict enforcement of the law becomes the norm, there will be far fewer fires.