A large and comprehensive emergency rescue centre - the biggest in China - began operations in the Guangdong provincial capital on Sunday.

The centre can handle all the breaking emergency events affecting residents or tourists, including outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome, traffic accidents, blazes, marine rescues, water and electricity supply outages, criminal cases and environmental crises, Zhang Guifang, deputy Party secretary of Guangzhou, said yesterday.

The centre has been constructed much like those centres found in Western metropolises. It features advanced telecommunication systems, linking a total of 24 local major government departments, bureaux and units.

They include public security, public health, hospitals, fire protection, traffic departments, marine rescue, tourism, justice, gas, construction, telecommunication, labour and social security, flood control headquarters, a local army garrison and civil affairs units.

It also has a helicopter available 24 hours, and can instantly contact relevant departments and units to organize timely rescues when it receives reports of incidents.

It has been designed to be able to handle more than 10 million reports annually, Zhang said.

Major equipment and technologies at the site include computers and electronic monitoring and communication systems that have been imported from abroad.

And what is happening in Guangzhou's major streets and busy areas can be seen and monitored on the centre's four big screens and 27 smaller screens via advanced electronic technologies.

Meeting international standards, Zhang said the centre will likely receive more than 30,000 reports annually starting next year.

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