President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao called recently for curbing possible occurrence of big safety accidents which claim huge casualties and property losses.

Hu and Wen urged law-enforcement organs to implement stricter inspections and punish people responsible in line with laws.

Premier Wen chaired a special State Council meeting on work safety Nov. 24, urging local governments, relevant departments and enterprises to check hidden troubles which might trigger accidents. The State Council said coal mines, chemical plants, transportation companies and fireworks factories are priorities for security overhaul from this winter to spring next year.

Since Nov. 20, the Ministry of Public Security has taken stricter precautions against overloaded passenger cars, over-speed vehicles, drunken driving, fatigue driving and driving vehicles without registration plates. The traffic management organs will equip highways and national trunk roads with speeding sensors. The traffic police will withdraw licenses of drivers who exceed speed limit by 50 percent.

The Ministry of Education stipulated that students sports activities should be organized only inside campuses. The ministry said that sports activities in traffic routes will greatly threaten lives of students.

The Ministry of Communications will strictly overhaul major ferries, prohibiting non-passenger vessels for passenger transport.

The Bureau of Production Safety Supervision and Administration urged nationwide companies to learn lessons from the latest disastrous blast of a Jilin chemical plant and a gas leak of the Capital Iron Corp., and to carry out earnest internal safety checks.

While urging local coal mines to prevent gas explosion, the bureau will further work for close down unlicensed coal mines.

The bureau also said it will crack down on unauthorized fireworks factories.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2005)