China reports drop in workplace accidents, fatalities in 2025

China recorded more than 19,800 workplace safety accidents nationwide in 2025, claiming over 18,000 lives, with both figures down more than 7 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Emergency Management said Thursday.

Ministry spokeswoman Shen Zhanli released the data at a news conference in Beijing, saying the number of accidents and fatalities fell 8.7 percent and 7 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.

Nine major accidents were reported, resulting in 129 deaths, while no particularly major accidents occurred, Shen said, adding that the overall workplace safety situation has continued to improve.

Shen also briefed reporters on natural disasters in 2025, saying floods and geological disasters, earthquakes, typhoons, and wind and hail were the main types.

Drought, low-temperature and snow disasters, sandstorms, forest and grassland fires, and marine disasters also occurred to varying degrees, she said.

The disasters affected 67.03 million people nationwide to varying extents and left 763 people dead or missing, according to the ministry.

They also led to 3.63 million people being urgently evacuated or relocated or requiring emergency living assistance, and caused direct economic losses of 241.6 billion yuan ($34.4 billion), Shen said.

To respond to the disasters and support affected people, China activated national disaster relief emergency responses 24 times last year, the highest annual total in nearly a decade, said Chen Sheng, head of disaster relief and material support at the ministry.

Chen said the central government allocated 11.3 billion yuan in disaster relief funds and dispatched 560,000 items of relief supplies.