Sustainable Development of Transport in China

3. Strengthening Safety Management and Emergency Response

Upholding the sanctity of human life, China has improved the capacity of the transport industry to deal with public emergencies and in particular major public health emergencies, strengthened safety management and emergency response, and coordinated development and safety, so as to provide safe transport to the public and support economic and social development.

Traffic safety management has significantly improved. Putting prevention first and adopting a comprehensive approach, China has further enhanced the system for ensuring safe transport, and improved the mechanism for controlling workplace risks and removing hidden dangers, with the goal of preventing serious and major traffic accidents and ensuring workplace safety.

No major railway accidents have occurred since 2012. In 2019, railway accident fatalities had dropped by 46.1 percent compared with 2012, the death rate per billion tonne-km by 53.8 percent; the number of serious and major traffic accidents on ordinary roads had lowered by 55.9 percent, and the number of fatalities by 60 percent. In water traffic, there were no serious accidents in 2019, and the number of serious accidents and deaths both decreased by 68.5 percent and 69.4 percent respectively compared with 2012. Civil aviation has achieved a new safety record of almost 81 million hours of continuous safe flight in 112 months.

Emergency response has markedly improved. China has strengthened emergency response capacity, prevented and defused major safety risks in a timely manner, and effectively responded to disasters and accidents of all kinds. It has carried out projects to secure safety of high-speed railways, built a security system combining manpower, equipment and technology, and improved the security conditions along high-speed railway lines, removing 64,000 potential risks from the routes. Efforts have also been made to improve the safety of standard rail lines. The country has carried out safety and security projects covering 889,000 km of roads at or above the township level, renovated 47,000 unsafe bridges, and effectively disciplined the operation of transport vehicles.

China has strengthened maritime rescue and reinforced emergency response to major offshore oil spills. It has established a fast and efficient approach to maritime search and rescue that follows unified government leadership with the main responsibility on local authorities, and enlists help from both professional forces and the public in line with the principle of proximity and convenience. China is now equipped with more than 70 professional rescue vessels, more than 120 salvage vessels, more than 20 specialized rescue aircraft, and more than 20 emergency rescue teams. It has built a maritime search and rescue capability composed of professional rescue and salvage forces, the armed forces, government forces and social forces. From 2012 to 2019, the government organized 16,000 maritime search and rescue operations, dispatching 72,000 vessels and 2,780 aircraft, and rescued 11,000 vessels and 122,000 people in distress, with a success rate of 96.2 percent.

The capacity to deal with public emergencies has distinctly improved. China has enhanced its emergency response systems and capabilities, and has responded rationally and efficiently to various public emergencies. After COVID-19 struck, the Chinese government made resolute decisions to block the transmission of the virus and ensure the continuity of the transport network, the channels for emergency transport, and the transport of goods and materials essential for work and daily life. It introduced a series of timely policies and measures:

? ensuring the rapid handling and delivery of emergency supplies by rail;

? prioritizing and expediting free road access for emergency transport vehicles;

? giving priority to emergency transport waterway vessels in passing through locks, being piloted, anchoring and docking;

? allowing each Chinese airline to operate only one route per country with no more than one flight per week;

? matching supply and demand between air transport enterprises and international trade and foreign-funded enterprises; and

? opening fast postal channels.

These measures stopped any spread of the virus by means of transport and ensured the availability of emergency supplies and daily necessities, providing strong support for the all-out war against the epidemic.

Panel 10 Transport Plays an Important Role in COVID-19 Response

During the fight against the epidemic, the transport sector has played an important role in curbing the spread of the virus, providing timely medical supplies and maintaining people's daily life. A total of 1.59 million tonnes of medical supplies and daily necessities and 5.8 million tonnes of thermal coal and fuel oil arrived in Hubei Province by railway, highway, waterway, civil aviation and postal express delivery. More than 40 million workers in the sector worked day and night in the front line, and millions of couriers pressed ahead with their work in the face of snow, wind and danger.

Transport services resumed through a region-specific and multilevel approach. Expressway tolls were waived nationwide. With COVID-19 prevention and control measures in place, railways, highways, waterways, urban buses, subways and taxis continued their services, effectively guaranteeing the transport of supplies for work and daily life.

V. Building a Global Community of Transport for All

Pursuing a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up, China expands cooperation with other countries in the field of transport, actively promotes global connectivity and engages in global transport governance. It earnestly fulfills its international responsibilities and obligations and pursues win-win results and common development through cooperation in wider fields and at higher levels, contributing to building a global community of transport for all, and promoting a global community of shared future.