The Ministry of Public Security said that there were 155,007 fires on the mainland in the first half of this year, 26.9 percent more than the same period last year.

The fires killed 1,357 people, a year-on-year decline of 0.4 percent, and injured 1,753 people, a drop of 14.2 percent.

The fires directly caused property damage of about 860 million yuan (US$103.6 million), a year-on-year increase of 14.9 percent.

Among the catastrophes, 5,099 fires raged in public places, causing 222 deaths and 279 injuries and a direct property loss of 92 million yuan (US$11 million).

To reverse the situation, 11 administrations and commissions - including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Supervision and the State Administration of Workplace Safety - will launch a special fire-prevention campaign targeted at public places such as department stores, hotels, schools, hospitals and kindergartens, said public security vice-minister Yang Huanning at a teleconference yesterday.

Supervision will also be strengthened over the production, storage and transportation of dangerous chemicals in the second half of the year, Yang said.

The vice-minister said achievements have already been made in fire prevention thanks to the co-operation between government departments at all levels during the past three months.

In April, the Chinese authorities launched a nationwide overhaul of workplace safety, including fire-prevention measures.

By the end of June, a total of 15,000 fire-prevention supervision panels had been dispatched to check on 388,000 workplaces, of which 222,000 had hidden fire dangers.

Furthermore, more than 6,200 illegal public entertainment venues - such as karaoke bars, discos and video arcades - have been shut down. Another 111,183 venues were shut down temporarily until fire-prevention measures are taken.

On June 16, a fire at a packed Internet cafe in Beijing killed 25 and injured 13, prompting the municipal authorities to carry out a large-scale supervision of the cafes.

Yang said the authorities at all levels then inspected 39,000 Internet cafes. The authorities closed 3,100 of them for fire-safety reasons and suspended operations at another 11,000.

Yang said that most of the fires could be blamed on a lack of fire-prevention awareness, the violation of the rules and operational regulations in the use of electricity, gas and oil, and inadequate supervision.

(China Daily July 27, 2002)