Emergency response to get update of systems

Establishing a highly efficient national emergency management system under unified command was included in a draft of the revised Emergency Response Law, which was submitted to the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for deliberation on Monday.

The draft also stated that the responsibilities and legal consequences of emergency command institutions should be clarified in the process of responding to emergencies.

The draft includes 104 articles, 34 more than the current Emergency Response Law, which took effect in 2007. It suggested further improvement of the emergency management and support systems.

The current Emergency Response Law has played an important role in preventing and reducing the occurrence of emergencies, and in controlling, alleviating and eliminating the serious social harm caused by emergencies, Tang Yijun, minister of justice, said when presenting the draft to the session on Monday in Beijing.

The management of emergency response has encountered some new situations and problems in recent years, especially COVID-19, which has brought new challenges to the management of emergency response that urgently need to be addressed, Tang said.

To ensure the transmission of emergency-related information, it proposed setting up and improving the system for releasing information and media reporting to respond to public concerns promptly and establishing direct online reporting and automatic reporting systems to ensure information can be reported to higher levels in time.

Other proposals included dynamically updating the catalog of emergency supplies, improving the system of supervision, production, procurement, reserve, allocation and distribution of important emergency supplies.

Transport and energy support systems need to be improved to ensure the timely transport of emergency supplies and personnel and energy supply in affected areas. The State should encourage citizens, companies and other organizations to reserve basic emergency self-rescue materials and daily necessities, it said.

Minors, the elderly, the disabled, pregnant and lactating women, and other special groups should be given special and priority protection in emergency response and management, the draft said.

Authorities or individuals that need to obtain other people's personal information in emergency response shall obtain and ensure information security, and shall not illegally collect, use, process or transmit the personal information, it said.

It divides emergencies into four levels according to the nature, characteristics, degree of harm and scope of impact, and bases responsible acts on different levels.

It also encourages social forces to participate in emergency rescues in an orderly manner and establish emergency rescue teams.