21st Century Business Herald:

China is one of the countries most vulnerable to natural disasters in the world. Since its establishment, what preparations have the MEM made in response to major and catastrophic disasters? Thank you.

Zhou Xuewen:

Thank you for your question. It is a basic reality that China has a large variety of natural disasters, distributed over a wide area and with high frequency, causing heavy losses. Since its establishment, the MEM has fully implemented the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on disaster prevention, mitigation and rescue, put people and their lives first, always been alert to the worst possible scenarios, adopted proactive strategies and strived for the best results, and always focused on emergency preparedness for major and catastrophic disasters. To be specific, we have strengthened preparedness in the following five aspects to achieve "five improvements."

First, we have strengthened emergency preparedness in mechanisms, improving the overall capacity for emergency response with unimpeded communication at all levels and coordination and interconnection among all parties. The comprehensive strengths of the MEM's departments and the professional advantages of relevant departments have been given full play. Joint mechanisms in military-civilian coordination, emergency transportation, and aviation rescue have been established. The systems for exchanging information, sharing resources, jointly constructing forces, and jointly supporting operations have been improved. A joint emergency response setup with distinctive focus, mutual complementarity and mutual support has been developed, effectively boosting the overall synergy of unified planning, integrated operation and joint actions.

Second, we have strengthened preparedness in contingency plans, improving emergency response awareness based on contingency plans. We have actively adapted to a new round of reforms to the emergency management system, and promoted the development of an emergency planning system. Over 650 special and departmental contingency plans at national and provincial levels have been issued and the revision of contingency plans at municipal and county level has been fully carried out. At the same time, we have strengthened the dynamic management, examination, evaluation, publicity and interpretation of the contingency plans, and given full play to their leading role in guiding emergency preparedness and directing rescue operations when disasters occur, which has effectively raised the awareness of emergency response based on contingency plans at all levels.

Third, we have strengthened preparedness in emergency forces, improving the emergency rescue operations featuring pre-positioned arrangements and tiered combination of forces. We have analyzed trends based on disaster risks and consulted with relevant departments at the beginning of each year to discuss and plan for preparedness in emergency forces in response to major and catastrophic disasters. We have coordinated and deployed firefighting, military, professional and social emergency forces in accordance with regions and categories and clarified the composition of forces, tasks, professional combination and delivery batches, which has effectively improved the capabilities of rapid response and efficient rescue. At the same time, we accelerated the development and deployment of advanced rescue equipment. We have built and installed large-scale marine engineering rescue ships on the Yangtze and Huai rivers. In particular, the dynamic pontoon bridge that played an important role in the flood disaster relief in Xinxiang, Henan province, was called the "rescue aircraft carrier" by netizens.

Fourth, we have strengthened preparedness in capabilities, improving the emergency rescue operation methods featuring efficient coordination and targeted rescue. We have taken emergency drills as the platform, carried out trainings in realistic and difficult conditions with strict standards, and practiced command, coordination, operational methods and support, so as to test contingency plans, strengthen teams and improve capacities. In the past two years, the MEM, together with Sichuan and Gansu provinces, jointly held two large-scale realistic earthquake relief drills. The participating teams were tested under real environments and complex conditions. Emergency drills have also been carried out in various localities on a regular basis, which has effectively improved the rescue capabilities of multi-disaster response, multi-force combination and multi-technology integration.

Fifth, we have strengthened preparedness in emergency supplies, improving emergency support capabilities featuring joint reserve and supply and joint deployment and support. We have strengthened the reserves of emergency supplies in accordance with local conditions so as to respond to major and catastrophic disasters and have optimized the variety, scale, distribution and standards of reserve supplies. We have improved the deployment of supplies by means of a national emergency resource management platform, coordinated with logistics enterprises to improve the emergency logistics support system, effectively enhancing the emergency supply support capabilities with rational layout, efficient deployment and rapid arrival. Thank you.

Chen Wenjun:

If you have no more questions, today's briefing is hereby concluded. Thank you to all the speakers and friends from media. Thank you.

Translated and edited by Xu Xiaoxuan, Wang Wei, Zhou Jing, Huang Shan, Yan Xiaoqing, Yan Bin, Liu Sitong, Liu Qiang, Xu Kailin, Li Huiru, He Shan, Yuan Fang, David Ball, Tom Arnsten, and Jay Birbeck. In case of any discrepancy between the English and Chinese texts, the Chinese version is deemed to prevail.