Public venues and businesses with high fire risks could be forced to take out fire insurance as part of a scheme to build a market-based risk control system, according to a draft amendment to China's Fire Control Law.

The amendment, deliberated by Chinese lawmakers on Tuesday, specifies responsibilities and strengthens the roles of social institutions in curbing fire risks and mitigating damage.

The draft was submitted for first review to the second session of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.

Public venues and enterprises that produced, stored, transported or marketed inflammable or explosive materials should have fire insurance, it said.

It required the insurer to assess the policy applicant's fire control situation before issuing the insurance, and to provide guidance and monitor the policyholder.

Delayed or inadequate insurance pay outs in recent years have caused serious difficulties in the operations and lives of policyholders.

They were a cause of social instability and a huge problem for the government, a report on the revision read.

Insurance would help reduce business operators' financial burdens and prevent social instability involving fire victims, the report said.

The market-based risk control mechanism would help improve business operators' capabilities in securing themselves against fires risks, it said.

Apart from fire control departments under the Ministry of Public Security, grassroots police stations were also given responsibilities for fire control, according to the amendment.

These stations were authorized to impose administrative punishments ranging from a warning to a maximum 500-yuan (US$71) fine on violators of fire control regulations.

Deputy Public Security Minister Liu Jinguo said at the legislative session that grassroots police stations in the country's rural and urban communities had better knowledge of local fire control situations than fire control departments. These were only set up in local public security organs at or above the county level.

The draft also reduced the range of projects that needed to be checked on delivery for their fire control design, but strengthened spot checks after their delivery.

It stipulated that densely-populated venues, large-scale residential buildings or projects with special uses must be checked by the ministry's fire control departments prior to their use.

The draft would require stronger management of fire products by conducting checks on every batch of products and by imposing a compulsory product certification system.

It also prohibited fire control departments and their staff from utilizing their positions to seek illegal gain. Those violating the rule would be punished according to the law.

"With the rapid economic and social development, as well as the transformation of the government's role, the country's fire control faces new problems.

"Some regulations can no longer cater to the fire control situation," he said.

The existing Fire Control Law took effect in 1998.

The 1998 law failed to clarify the fire control responsibilities and did not set down a sound law enforcement and monitoring system, said Liu.

And the management system of fire control still needed to be improved, he added.

In such a situation, Liu said, the law needed revision to better prevent fires and mitigate damage to people's lives and property.

According to the draft bill, governments at county-level and above are responsible for making local fire control emergency plans, providing relief supplies for firefighting, and conducting checks on subordinate units.

The draft also requires them to deal promptly with major fire risks reported by fire control departments. Those who failed to do so or those who ordered construction projects to be put into use prior to getting an approval from fire control departments would be punished.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Public Security on Tuesday released figures showing 611 people were killed in 48,882 fire incidents nationwide during the first quarter. Overall the situation was stable compared with the same period of last year, it said.

The fire also resulted in 179 injuries and 280 million yuan (US$40 million) in direct economic loss, the ministry's fire department said in a statement.

Statistics show that most of the fire disasters occurred in densely-populated places such as residential areas. Of the fatalities, 468 were killed in such venues.

During the period, about 1.49 million police force took part in the fire-fighting, who rescued some 109,000 people out of the disasters, according to the statement.

(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2008)