China News Service:

We have noticed that in the past two years, the MEM has intensified its efforts to combat counterfeiting in certificates for special operations and protect the rights and interests of special operation personnel. Can you elaborate on that?

Song Yuanming:

Thank you for your question. There are ten types of special operation personnel, such as electricians, electric welders, and people work high above the ground. They are a very important group in enterprises. The operations they engage in are relatively high-risk and prone to accidents. Therefore, the law clearly stipulates that special operation personnel must undergo special training, pass an examination, and be certified to work. Currently, there are over 17 million special operation personnel nationwide, with an annual increase of about two million people. However, in recent years, we have found that some criminals, driven by interests, counterfeit the government website of the MEM, forge and buy and sell fake certificates, make false publicity, and induce practitioners to be deceived. Some practitioners have been deceived by false websites or advertisements claiming that they will get a pass in the exam and got fake certificates, which seriously violated the legitimate rights and interests of the practitioners and also caused some people without basic security skills to engage in high-risk operations, leaving major potential dangers to workplace safety of enterprises. To deal with these problems, we have mainly focused on strengthening supervision and providing warm services to safeguard the rights and interests of people.

First, we have worked on combating fake certificates. The MEM and the Ministry of Public Security have launched a special program on combating counterfeiting government websites and forging and selling fake certificates. Over the past year, emergency management departments at all levels have guided enterprises to conduct self-examination and self-rectification. About 31.78 million certificates have been verified through the national unified certificate inquiry platform. We have carried out inspections of compliance with laws on more than 300,000 enterprises and investigated and punished 9,855 persons working without certificates and 1,343 persons with fake certificates. We have found some clues through investigating fake certificates and handed them to public security departments timely, with 313 clues having been handled. At the same time, public security organs at all levels have acted firmly and swiftly. They have solved 154 cases of producing and selling fake certificates, arrested 899 criminal suspects, busted 44 gangs, shut down 461 counterfeit websites, seized over 100,000 fake certificates and seals, and identified 270,000 fake certificates by sorting out background data of counterfeit websites. All of these efforts have formed a powerful deterrent. Currently, the two departments have established a regular working mechanism for combating counterfeits. All counterfeits will be investigated and punished promptly and decisively once spotted.

Second, we have offered thoughtful services. We have provided cross-provincial services for special work personnel. Through technological means, we have realized cross-regional and cross-level sharing of internal data. Practitioners can take exams and apply for certificates and recertification at the place of their household registration or work. That is to say, for special work personnel, they don't always have to return to the place of their household registration to apply for certificates. They can apply for recertification and exams in cities above the prefecture level where they work, with data sharing allowing them to get things done with greater ease. In addition, we have promoted electronic certificates. Electronic certificates have the same legal validity as paper certificates. Special work personnel can download electronic certificates for free anytime and anywhere from the MEM's website. People no longer have to worry about certificates getting lost or being seized by enterprises. So far, we have issued 13.64 million new electronic certificates. We have also established a national unified certificate inquiry platform on the website of the MEM. Through the platform, we can quickly verify the authenticity of the certificate. Those that cannot be found on the platform are fake ones. Meanwhile, basic information on examination institutions and tutoring institutions in various places has been posted on the platform, so that practitioners can choose to take exams nearby and avoid being deceived by false promotions.

Next, we will act upon the requirements of reforms to streamline administration and delegate power, improve regulation, and upgrade services, and continue to optimize services to provide convenience for special work personnel. Thank you.