On November 17th, the Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) of the People's Republic of China held the Sub-Forum on Work Safety of the 2023 Belt and Road Ministerial Forum for International Cooperation in Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management in Beijing. Xu Jia’ai, vice minister of MEM, and Dai Xiaochu, Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in China and Mongolia, attended the event and delivered speeches.
Xu Jia’ai pointed out that China upholds the principle of putting safety first and placing emphasis on prevention, establishes an overall safety and emergency response framework, improves the public safety system, and promotes the transformation of public safety governance model to pre-event prevention. China pays more attention to put work safety control measures at early stages by highlighting the prevention at the source and control of safety risks, normalizing control measures, monitoring and early warning, and engineering management. China has carried out the 2023 campaign to investigate and rectify the hazards of major accidents, drew lessons from accidents, and focused on the targeted rectification of prominent problems of mine safety, fire safety and hazardous chemicals safety.
Xu Jia’ai said that China will rely on the Belt and Road International Cooperation Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management to further build a platform for work safety exchanges and cooperation, and promote international exchanges and cooperation in safety development philosophy, safety governance supervision and law enforcement, regulations and policies, safety technology for emerging industries, accident emergency rescue, and enterprise safety management capabilities. China will continue to strengthen cooperation in work safety under the ILO framework, the European Union, ASEAN and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, and share ideas and practical experiences on safety development. China will strengthen the convergence of international standards for work safety and promote the mutual recognition of work safety standards among the Belt and Road countries and regions.
Dai Xiaochu said that "prevention first, promote safety with science and technology" is a highly relevant theme for the development characteristics of the times. China has made great progress in the field of work safety, and these experiences are valuable for other developing countries. The ILO is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with China in the field of work safety under the guidance of the memorandum of understanding on strengthening South-South cooperation in the field of work safety with the MEM under the BRI framework, and support South-South cooperation between China and other countries.
Focusing on the establishment of an overall safety and emergency response framework, the sub-forum exchanged and shared useful experiences and practices in government supervision and law enforcement, safety risk management, safety digitalization, occupational health and safety management in the field of work safety at home and abroad, seeking to jointly enhance the comprehensive management capacity of work safety in countries along the Belt and Road.
