CHINA
I.

Natural hazards in China

1.1 Natural hazards likely to affect the country
Earthquake, extreme temperature, flood, wind storm, wave surge, wildfires, drought, insect infestations, slides
1.2 Recent major disasters
year
2004
2005
2005
2005
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005

dis_subset killed injured total_affected dam (US ‘000s)
Flood
133
4026
33,652,026
1,100,000
―
Flood
58
0
11,230,000
Flood
138
0
16,700,000
1,600,000
Flood
65
0
428,000
27,000Typhoon
188
4000
9,062,000
2,190,000
Winter36
08,000,000
300,000
Storm1955458,855
16,915Storm
0
090,0006,000
Typhoon90
13,000260,000
―
Storm
8223
825,223
Typhoon60
9,160,000
808,000
Typhoon
159019,624,000
1,900,000―
Typhoon140
1,350,000
Tropical
90
5,719,000―
storm
Typhoon95
02,487,000
148,000

Source: "EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database,www.em-dat.net - Université catholique de Louvain - Brussels Belgium"
At 11:50, January 10, 1998, an earthquake (M6.2) occurred in thebordering area between Zhangbei County and Shangyi County in Hebei
Province and four counties were affected. 136,000 houses collapsed, 49
were dead, 11,479 people injured. Some facilitates for livelihood andproduction were seriously damaged. Within 5 minutes upon earthquake
occurrence, the key staff members responsible for emergency response,
earthquake analysis and forecast in China Seismological Bureau (CSB)
were in their posts. The epic-center was located within 20 minutes after
the tremors. It was announced after two and half hours by CSB thataftershocks would not yield serious effect on Beijing. The local
governments and disaster reduction departments immediately
implemented the emergency response pre-plan for earthquake andentered into the working situation after 20 minutes of the tremors.

Source: UN/ISDR Country ReportHundreds of cadres were immediately divided into 6 groups and rushed
into the disaster areas to conduct rescue and disaster relief operations,resettle victims and popularize the knowledge for earthquake prevention
and resistance. In the afternoon of the earthquake day, Hebei Provincial
Government sent work and medical teams to the disaster area. 2,000
PLA personnel rushed into the disaster stricken areas for carrying out
rescue work. Tens of media agencies sent reporters to the disaster areas
to make timely report of the disaster combat and rescue works. At 18
O’clock of the very day, the first lots of winter clothes were dispatched tothe victims. Before 12 O’clock on January 11, the relief materials fromBeijing, Tianjin, Zhangjiakou and Langfang arrived in the disaster areas
one after another. On January 14, all the disaster victims had got winterclothes, food, temporary frost-proof shelters and the medical services.
From January 15, about 3,000 PLA officers and soldiers were urgently
sent to help more than forty thousand disaster victims to build houses
for winter; the work was completed in February. Because of the timely
response and effective measures, nobody died of frost and hungry undera temperature of 20-30 C (below zero).
II.

Disaster Management system

2.1 Administrative system

Conventional long form: People's Republic of China
Conventional short form: China
Type of Government:
Communist State
Capital:Beijing
Administrative Divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5

autonomous regions (zizhiqu, singular andplural), and 4 municipalities (shi, singular andplural). 2 Special Administrative Regions(tebiexingzhengqu, singular and plural),Autonomous regions: Guangxi, Nei Mongol,Ningxia, Xinjiang, Xizang (Tibet).
Municipalities: Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai,Tianjin. Special Administrative Regions: HongKong, Macao.

2.2 Legal system, legal framework
More than 30 laws and regulations have been promulgated andimplemented on disaster reduction, which include the following:

Law on Water and Soil Conservation
Law on Earthquake Prevention and Disaster Reduction
Law on Fire-Fighting
Meteorological Law

Source: UN/ISDR Country Report

Law on Production Safety
Regulation on Forest Fire-Fighting, the Regulation on Preventing
Forest Pests
Regulation on Safety Management of Dangerous Chemicals

All these laws and regulations have legalized China’s undertakings inwater and soil conservation, earthquake prevention and disaster
reduction, fire-fighting, flood-prevention and meteorology, and theworking pattern of reducing disasters.
2.3 Structure of disaster management
China National Commission for the International Decade on Natural
Disaster Reduction was established in 1989. In 2000, it was renamed
China Commission for International Disaster Reduction. In January of2005, it was renamed as China National Committee for DisasterReduction (NCDR), headed by a Vice Premier of the State Council. It is
composed of 34 ministries and departments, including relevant militaryagencies and social groups. It functions as an inter-agency coordinationbody under the State Council, which is responsible for studying andformulating principles, policies and plans for disaster reduction,
coordinating major disaster activities, giving guidance to local
governments in their disaster reduction work, and promotinginternational exchanges and cooperation. Moreover, the leadership of thedisaster reduction and relief efforts has been improved with theestablishment of an expert panel consisting of 18 academicians andrenowned experts.
2.4 Priorities on disaster risk management
1) The principle of putting people’s interests first and the scientificconcept of development should be carried out. Disaster reduction
should be secured with an important status in national economic andsocial development. The principle of parallel development of economy
and natural disaster reduction should be followed. Disaster reduction
should be included in the strategic framework of sustainable
development. A series of comprehensive disaster-reduction activities
should be adopted to protect people’s lives and properties.
2) Disaster prevention should be the major priority in combination withdisaster resistance and relief. The disaster-reduction awareness of thegeneral public should be further enhanced. Disaster reduction should
be taken into account in constructing production and living facilities.
Multiple methods and measure should be implemented to carry out
disaster-reduction projects so as to display the overall efficiency ofvarious disaster-reduction projects and step up relevant undertakings.

Source: UN/ISDR Country Report3) Overall interests should be borne in mind with set priorities. Keyissues bearing on the overall interests of disaster reduction should bewell settled. Limited resources should be concentrated onstrengthening the development of key projects and comprehensive
work on reducing disasters in key regions. Focus should be put on
reducing natural disasters having major overall or regional impacts.
In the meantime, efforts should be made to explore effective ways toreduce other natural disasters.
4) The role of science, technology and education should be fully
displayed in disaster reduction. The process of transforming existingscientific results into actual capabilities of disaster reduction shouldbe accelerated for better abilities to reduce disasters. Disasterreduction education should be integrated with popularized andspecialized education oriented towards whole society so as to uplift
the level of disaster-reduction knowledge of the general public.
5) All positive elements should be mobilized. Initiatives of the central
and local governments as well as all social sectors should be displayed.
Under the unitary organization and deployment of the government,
relevant departments should coordinate closely with each other andenterprises as well as cross-sections of society should be broadly
involved for effectively reducing disasters.
6) International exchanges and cooperation on disaster reduction should
be strengthened. Multi-channeled and multi-layered international
exchanges and cooperation should be actively carried out tocontinuously improve China’s disaster-reduction undertakings andChina’s standing in the international disaster-reduction community.
III.

Disaster management plan

In April 1998, the Chinese Government promulgated the National
Natural Disaster Reduction Plan of the People’s Republic of China (1998-2010), the first national disaster reduction plan formulated inaccordance with the Ninth Five-Year National Economic and Social
Development Plan and the 2010 Long-term Objective. It is based on pastexperiences to carry out its disaster reduction work.
The Disaster Reduction Plan has identified the following guiding
principles:Disaster reduction should be deeply considered in national economicand social development;
Prevention should be taken as the priority in combination withresistance and relief;

Source: UN/ISDR Country Report

The role of science, technology, and education should be incorporatedin disaster reduction;
The central and local governments as well as all social sectors should
be to reduce disasters; andInternational exchange and cooperation should be strengthened.

Expected Outputs of the plan:





Key disaster reduction projects which have a bearing on the overall
interests of national economy and social progress will be built.
Disaster-reduction technology will be widely applied.
Public awareness and knowledge will be enhanced.
A comprehensive working mechanism will be set up so as to alleviate
impacts inflicted by disasters on the national economic and social
development;
Reduce direct economic losses and human casualties.

The Disaster Reduction Plan has also put forward the tasks of various
key players, measures and major actions on disaster reduction. After its
promulgation, it has been actively implemented while relevant
departments and localities are accelerating their corresponding plans
and implementation details.
IV.

Budget size on national level

In 2005, The MCA has collaborated with relevant departments toearmark RMB 8.7 billion as the central budget for disaster rescue andrelief initiatives, of which the MCA and the Ministry of Financecontributed RMB 4.048 billion in total to the reserve pool for devastating
disaster relief programs.
V.

Progress and situations of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA)

Ensure that disaster risk reduction is a national and a local priority witha strong institutional basis for implementation
National Natural Disaster Reduction Plan of the People’s Republic ofChina (1998 -2010) was formulated in accordance with the Ninth FiveYear National Economic and Social Development Plan and the 2010
Long-term Objective. It is the road map of China for a long term effort on
disaster reduction.
Identify, assess and monitor disaster risks and enhance early warning
The disaster monitoring and pre-warning system has been set up andimproved. Currently the disaster monitoring and pre-warning system inSource: UN/ISDR Country ReportChina has taken shape and relevant departments are able to timely
forecast disasters in line with the rules of disaster management.
Throughout the country, a weather monitoring and forecast network
composed of 2,511 ground meteorological stations, 124 high-altitudemonitoring stations and more than 80 new weather radars has been setup. An earthquake monitoring network has been established made up ofthe national digital earthquake network of 48 earthquake stations, 23
regional digital remote-monitoring stations, 25 GPS stations and 56
crust movement monitoring networks composed of 1,000 mobile
observatories and 400 stations.
A hydrometric network composed of 3,130 basic hydrometric stations,
1,073 water level stations, 14,454 precipitation survey stations and11,620 underground water observing wells has been put in place. A
forest fire-fighting and pest preventing forecast network has been set up
composed of 2,867 inspection and quarantine stations, 3,151 forest firefighting headquarters, 11,222 forests fire-fighting watch towers, 300,000
kilometers of fire-separation roads and 1.03 million kilometers of fire
separation zones.
A pest monitoring network has been established composed of 400
regional forecasting stations, 15 monitoring centers and 300 regional
monitoring stations. The constant improvement of monitoring and prewarning system targeted against various natural disasters has
guaranteed the timely organization of disaster reduction and relief workby governments at different levels.
Small-satellite constellations for environment and disaster monitoring
were built. In 2007 two small optical satellites and a radar satellite will
be launched for forming a “2+1” constellation, which will havepreliminary capabilities of timely monitoring and forecasting disasters
and environment developments in most of regions in China.
Before 2010, a “4+4” small satellite constellation composed of 4 small
optical satellites and 4 small radar satellites will be completed, which
will change the current mode of disaster monitoring in China and realize
24-hour and all-weather monitoring on environment and disasters.
Currently, the research on the satellite effective load is well underway.
Use knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety andresilience at all levels
Information Management, Public Awareness
A National Disaster Reduction Center of China (NDRCC) has been setup. In April 2002 the Chinese Government approved the founding of theNational Disaster Reduction Center, which serves as a center forSource: UN/ISDR Country Reportdisaster information sharing, technical services and emergency relief
decision consultancy. Its main functions are specified as follows: toassess and analyze the occurrence and development of major disasters,and provide services on forecast, assessment and supporting disaster
reduction decisions and information; to collect and analyze disaster
reduction information both at home and abroad for information sharing;
to provide technical assistance and supporting decisions for major
emergency relief work; to organize international disaster reduction
exchanges and cooperation.
The Chinese Government has raised public awareness by timely
reporting of disasters and relevant disaster reduction activities, holding
specialized lectures, columns and programs on TV, radio as well as
newspapers. Various charity shows for disaster reduction and poverty
relief, disaster-reduction summer camping activities for middle school
students and national quiz shows on disaster reduction were carried out
throughout the country.
In line with the theme of the International Day of Disaster Reduction,
multiple publicity campaigns on disaster reduction were launched.
Educational departments were added into the curriculum disasterreduction knowledge in primary and middle schools. In higher education,different levels of disaster-reduction education have been carried out incombination with disaster-reduction research.
Strengthen disaster preparedness for effective response at all levels
A national emergency-response plan system for natural disastermanagement has been set up. In order to improve various pre-warningand emergency-response mechanisms and governments’ capabilities tohandle emergencies and risks, the Chinese Government has
promulgated the national Natural Disaster Emergency-Response Plan.
Relevant departments under the State Council have basically completed
their emergency-response plans. 31 provinces and 2,347 counties havealso released their plans. As a result, a national emergency-response
plan management system for natural disasters has already taken shape.
Since 1998 China began to set up a central-level material reserve systemfor disaster relief. Central-level material reserve points for disaster relief
have been built in Shenyang, Harbin, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Wuhan,
Changsha, Nanning, Chengdu and Xian. Provincial-level material
reserve warehouses for disaster relief have been set up in almost all ofprovinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Source: UN/ISDR Country Report

VI.

Projects on disaster reduction headed by Ministry

Community-based Disaster Reduction Outreach Campaign
Community-based Disaster Reduction Outreach Campaign has beenlaunched, handbook series of Save Yourself From Disaster published andTV promotion of Emergency Rescue broadcast，all of which have gone along way with enhancing the public awareness. Information
dissemination and education programs have been carried out at the local
level, focusing on “disaster reduction and the community”, “disasterreduction in classrooms” and “disaster reduction in the rural areas”.
Thereby, China has been disseminating knowledge related to disaster
reduction, raise public awareness for disaster reduction, strengthen
vocational training for the managerial staff, build a pool of volunteers,and improve the overall knowledge base of the general public for disasterprevention, in an effort to set up a disaster prevention and disaster
reduction network engaging the whole society.
International Cooperation
As part of the endeavors to bring closer and stronger international
cooperation, China has been a signing party to The SCO Agreement onInter-governmental Mutual Assistance for Disaster Relief, attended
World Disaster Reduction Conference and sponsored the Asian
Conference on Disaster Reduction, the first ever ministerial meeting of
its kind in Asia. On top of that, China has provided relevant training
programs for 31 officials from 11 tsunami-hit countries and organized
governmental and non-governmental donation programs in the wake ofthe earthquake-turned tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the devastating
earthquake in Pakistan.
VII.

ADRC Counterpart
National Disaster Reduction Center of China
Zhongmin Plaza, 7 Baiguanglu, Xuanwu District, Beijing 100053

Source: UN/ISDR Country Report