Chapter I

General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purpose of preventing and reducing the occurrence of emergencies, controlling, mitigating and eliminating the serious social harm caused by emergencies, regulating the activities in response to emergencies, protecting the lives and property of the people, and maintaining national security, public security, environmental safety and public order.

Article 2 This Law is applicable to prevention of and preparation for response to emergencies, monitoring and early warning, emergency handling, rescue and relief, and post-emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction, and other activities in response to emergencies.

Article 3 For the purposes of this Law, emergencies include natural disasters, calamitous accidents, public health accidents and public security incidents, which occur abruptly and cause or may potentially cause serious social harm and for which measures for handling emergencies need to be adopted.

According to the degree of social harm done and the extent of repercussions and other factors, calamitous accidents and public health accidents are classified in four grades: especially serious, serious, relatively serious and common. Where laws, administrative regulations or regulations of the State Council provide otherwise, the provisions there shall prevail.

The standards for classifying the grades of emergencies shall be formulated by the State Council or the department designated by the State Council.

Article 4 The State establishes a system for administration of emergency response, which is characterized by unified leadership, all-round coordination, control according to grades, responsibility at different levels and, chiefly, territorial jurisdiction.

Article 5 The principle of giving priority to prevention and combining prevention with emergency response shall be adhered to in coping with emergencies. The State establishes a risk assessment system for serious emergencies, in order to make comprehensive assessment of potential emergencies, reduce the chance of their occurrence and mitigate their repercussions to the maximum extent.

Article 6 The State establishes an effective social mobilization mechanism, enhances all citizens’ awareness of the importance of public security and risk prevention, and helps increase the ability of the entire society to avoid risks and give assistance.

Article 7 The people’s governments at the county level shall be responsible for responding to emergencies which occur within their own administrative areas; where two or more administrative areas are involved in an emergency, the people’s government at the next higher level, which the people’s governments of the said administrative areas are subordinate to, shall assume responsibility, or the people’s governments at the next higher level of the respective people’s governments of the said administrative areas shall jointly assume responsibility.

After an emergency occurs, the people’s government at the county level at the place where the emergency occurs shall, take immediate measures to keep the development of the situation under control, organize efforts for emergency rescue, relief and handling and, without delay, report the matter to the people’s government at the next higher level or, when necessary, do so by bypassing the people’s government at the next higher level.

Where the people’s government at the county level at the place where an emergency occurs is unable to eliminate or keep under effective control the serious social harm caused by the emergency, it shall, in a timely manner, report the matter to the people’s government at a higher level, which shall take timely measures and exercise unified leadership in handling the emergency.

Where laws or administrative regulations provide that the relevant department of the State Council should take charge of responding to an emergency, such provisions shall prevail; and the local people’s governments shall cooperate in a proactive way and provide the necessary support. Article 8 The State Council shall, under the leadership of the Premier, study, decide on, and make deployment for, response to especially serious emergencies; it shall, in light of actual need, establish a national command for emergency response, which shall be responsible for work in this respect; and when necessary, it may send a work team to guide the relevant work.

Every local people’s government at or above the county level shall establish a command for emergency response, which is composed of the principal leading persons of the said government, the leading persons of the departments concerned and the relevant leading persons of the units of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and of the People’s Armed Police Force stationed there, to exercise unified leadership and coordinate the efforts of the relevant departments of the said people’s government and the people’s governments at lower levels in responding to emergencies; and it shall, in light of actual need, establish commands commensurate with the specific grades of emergencies, which shall organize, coordinate and direct the work in this respect.

The competent departments of the people’s government at a higher level shall, within the limits of their respective duties, give guidance and assistance to the people’s governments at lower levels and their relevant departments in making a success of the response to emergencies.

Article 9 The State Council and the local people’s governments at or above the county level shall be the leading administrative organs for response to emergencies, and their working bodies and specific duties of such bodies shall be defined by the State Council.

Article 10 The decisions made and orders issued by the relevant people’s government and its departments in response to emergencies shall be made known to the public in a timely manner.

Article 11 The measures taken by the relevant people’s government and its departments in response to an emergency shall be commensurate with the nature, seriousness and extent of the social harm that may be caused by the emergency; and where there are more than one options available for choice, the one that is advantageous to protection of the rights and interests of citizens, legal persons and other organizations to the maximum extent shall be chosen.

Citizens, legal persons and other organizations shall be obligated to participate in responding to emergencies.

Article 12 To respond to an emergency, the relevant people’s government and its departments may expropriate the property of units and individuals. After the use of the expropriated property or completion of the handling of the emergency, the property shall be returned to the owner in a timely manner. Where property is expropriated or the expropriated property is damaged or lost, compensation shall be made therefor.

Article 13 Where litigation, administrative reconsideration or arbitration cannot be conducted normally because of the adoption of emergency response measures, the provisions on suspension of limitation period or of proceedings shall apply, unless otherwise provided for by law.

Article 14 The Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force and the militia shall participate in emergency rescue, relief and handling in accordance with the provisions of this Law and of the relevant laws, administrative regulations and military regulations, as well as the orders issued by the State Council and the Central Military Commission.

Article 15 The Government of the People’s Republic of China shall carry out cooperation and exchange with the governments of other countries and the international organizations concerned in matters of emergency prevention, monitoring, early warning, emergency handling, rescue and relief, and post-emergency rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Article 16 The decisions made and orders issued by the people’s government at or above the county level in response to an emergency shall be submitted for the record to the standing committee of the people’s congress at the corresponding level; and after handling of the emergency is completed, the said government shall make a special report on the work to the said standing committee.