As a scale of change unseen in a century is unfolding in the world today, modern disaster and accident risks of high complexity and uncertainty pose a serious challenge to economic security and sustainable social development. Adhering to the overall national security outlook, coordinating development and security, and integrating and implementing the concept of security into the whole process and all areas of economic and social development are inevitable requirements for promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and are also essential for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

In order to implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development paradigm and promote the modernization of emergency management systems and capabilities, the Parallel Session on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management of the 5th Hongqiao International Economic Forum (Hongqiao Forum), jointly organized by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Emergency Management, UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, was held in Shanghai on November 5. The parallel session was themed “Emergency Management Mechanism and Capacity Modernization under the New Development Paradigm”.

The guests from the political, academic, and business communities at home and abroad exchanged views on how to improve the ability to coordinate development and security, as well as how to jointly enhance natural disaster prevention and emergency management capabilities through international cooperation in emergency management, in a bid to boost economic recovery achieve a higher level of sustainable global development, and create a more favorable international environment for China’s development.

Upholding Prevention as the Mainstay to Create a New Paradigm of Social Governance for Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits

Emergency management covers all stages before, during, and after the emergency and involves activities such as mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery, so it is crucial to managing the whole process of preventing and resolving major security risks and major disasters and accidents. It is pointed out in the parallel session that systematic mechanisms and advanced means to prevent and resolve major security risks must be perfected in the sustainable development of the economy and society, so as to achieve prevention-oriented and proactive planning.

Responding to disasters and accidents and building a people’s defence line for disaster prevention, mitigation and relief are important steps and key initiatives to enhance the ability to resist disasters and accidents and achieve the “Two Commitments and Three Transformations”.

“In the past decade of the new era, the Chinese government has attached great importance to development and safety, made the integration of development and safety a major principle of governance, and incorporated the concept of safe development into the whole process of development in all areas of the economy and society.” Zheng Guoguang, Secretary-general of the National Committee for Disaster Reduction, said that we have been committed to boosting monitoring capacity, constituting an integrated “air-sky-ground” monitoring network for comprehensive natural disaster risk monitoring and early warning and disaster monitoring and assessment, which has given a stronger impetus to the modernization of the emergency management system and capacity.

Mami Mizutori, head of UNISDR, said, according to a study, an effective 24-hour early warning can reduce economic losses by 30 percent. Based on UNISDR’s analysis, countries with effective early warning systems would reduce disaster mortality by eight times. The reduction effect is even greater in small island developing states.

“Disaster prevention monitoring, early warning, and forecasting are the foremost, most fundamental, and most direct means to reduce natural disasters.” Cui Peng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that through long-term research, China had built an integrated “air-sky-ground” disaster prevention and mitigation technology system, through which we can obtain disaster information in an all-round way and monitor the disaster process in the whole process, thus providing sufficient, systematic, sound and rich data for disaster prevention and mitigation and emergency management decisions.

Promoting the Construction of the Safety Guarantee System and Safe Production Risk Governance System

It is pointed out in the parallel session that in the context of economic and social transformation, transitions, and globalization, changes to the knowledge system, risk assessment, and prevention and supervision system for safe production can achieve essential safety and thus fundamentally eliminate accident hazards and address problems at the root, and promote the construction of the safety guarantee system and safe production risk governance system.

“Urban safety represents national safety, and without urban safety, there is no national safety, so we must adhere to bottom-line thinking and prevent serious and major accidents from occurring. We should pay equal attention to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment in specific measures to build a national urban safety system.” Yue Qingrui, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and president of the National Institute of Science and Technology for Urban Security Development, said that it is necessary to strengthen the basic theories and methods of urban security research, uphold “prevention, diagnosis, treatment and response” from the perspective of comprehensive governance, improve prevention and early warning, diagnosis and assessment, governance enhancement and emergency rescue capabilities, strengthen the development of scientific and technological means from the disaster dimension to the protection and maintenance of the national security system.

“Employees are the biggest wealth creators, and under the new development paradigm, I hope to enhance safety protection capabilities so that every employee can work happily in safe and healthy environmental conditions.” Zhang Xingkai, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Honorary President of the China Academy of Safety Science and Technology, believes that under the new development paradigm, the public has higher requirements for safety protection of enterprises, for the government’s safety as well as higher expectations for safety performance at all levels of society. In this regard, enterprises and their decision-makers and managers should take responsibility for safety and assume the main responsibility for production safety. The government should strengthen the supervision and management of production safety by formulating laws and standards for production safety. Employees should take the initiative to learn safety laws and regulations and professional technical safety knowledge to enhance their safety protection ability. Society should monitor the government to promote the improvement of safety protection capabilities.

Achieving a Higher Level of Global Sustainable Development

It is emphasized in the parallel session that we need to integrate development and security in the new development landscape, transform and upgrade the emergency response industry, and provide support for the modernization of governance and international development.

The frequent, intensive, and repeated occurrence of major disasters and accidents threatens global economic security and challenges the achievement of sustainable development goals. It is pointed out in the parallel session that it is the broad consensus of the international community to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, build partnerships and work together to address risk challenges. It is necessary to build consensus and firmly establish the concept of security, work in harmony and strengthen exchanges and mutual understanding, and look out for each other and share the woe.

Zheng Guoguang said that we should further strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in the field of emergency management, build a scientific and efficient national public security system, improve disaster prevention, mitigation, relief, and response to major disaster risks, and guarantee high-quality development.

Xiang Ru’an, Vice President and Chairman of the Engineering Vehicle Division of Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., said that equipment manufacturing enterprises, as an important part of the social rescue force, should also actively participate in the modernization of the emergency management system, and give full play to its role. Besides, the modernization of equipment capability also requires China manufacturing and Chinese solutions.

Cui Peng said that each country would not be immune to natural disasters, so it is necessary to strengthen international cooperation. We need, firstly, to further improve the mechanism of international cooperation; secondly, to expand and deepen international cooperation; and thirdly, to further explore the information sharing and joint disaster prevention mechanism for cross-border disasters.

Marco Toscano-Rivalta, head of the UNDRR Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, said that support and coordination at the national, regional, and global levels should be improved for better emergency management and disaster prevention and control.