China has announced new rules to protect workers and improve the response of rescuers. The State Council announced the regulations will go into effect on April first. CGTN's Mark Fontes has more.  

In recent years, China has established 85 national-level work safety emergency rescue teams covering mining, hazardous chemicals, tunnel construction and other industries, and more than 1,000 work safety rescue teams totaling around 72,000 people. However, officials have pointed out that the current volume of safety accidents is still very large. Since the fourth quarter of last year, there has been a number of major safety accidents in China. For instance, a deadly incident at the country's largest silver mine in Inner Mongolia, left 22 people dead.

SUN HUASHAN VICE MINISTER OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT "These accidents further reveal the problems in emergency response mechanisms to workplace accidents. Insufficient planning for rescue operations and inadequate supervision management are examples."

In view of the above-mentioned weaknesses, the new regulations clarified the emergency work system for the respective responsibilities of the government bodies involved.

SUN HUASHAN VICE MINISTER OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT "We'll strengthen supervision and management by measures like spot checks, while also refining planning. We will enhance the construction of emergency rescue teams, improve the storage of rescue equipment, and conduct on-site inspections in a standardized way."

Last year China established the Ministry of Emergency Management to deal with major accidents and disasters. In the future, relevant departments will work together to establish an advanced legal system for emergency management to formulate laws on work safety and comprehensive laws on prevention and control of natural disasters. Mark Fontes, CGTN.