The State Council on January 8 issued a general plan on emergency response for industrial accidents and other disasters.

Nine types of disasters are listed in the plan including production safety, railway transportation, civil aviation, marine salvage, subway transportation, large-scale power failures, and nuclear, environment and communication security.

The plan aims to regulate emergency response management and procedure, increase the government's efficiency and competence in the face of such events, minimize casualties and property losses, safeguard lives and maintain social stability.

The preamble to the plan is available on the Chinese government's website www.gov.cn and on Xinhua's, www.xinhuanet.com.

The plan stipulates that the State Council is the highest organ in emergency response management. A special office will be set up by the State Council for this purpose.

Events are ranked as follows: Class I (most serious), Class II (serious), Class III (relatively serious) and Class IV (ordinary), each represented by the colors red, orange, yellow and blue respectively.

The plan also provides that those who make outstanding contributions to emergency response will be awarded, while those who fail to give accurate reports or try to cover up accidents will be punished accordingly.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2006)