China has achieved breakthroughs in emergency management and disaster response, cutting workplace fatalities and natural disaster losses while pivoting its national strategy toward prevention, said the Minister of Emergency Management Wang Xiangxi on Wednesday.
Wang made the remarks at a press conference highlighting China's emergency management gains during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), calling the progress both groundbreaking and historic.
"In terms of workplace safety, in 2024, the number of fatalities from nationwide production safety accidents decreased by 28.4 percent compared to the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period. Meanwhile, the number of major and serious accidents dropped to a single digit for the first time, a decrease of 43.8 percent compared to the end of the same period. Furthermore, the number of both accidents and fatalities has continued to decline this year," said Wang.
"Regarding natural disasters, improvements are mainly highlighted by three aspects: the average number of affected persons, the number of deaths and missing persons due to disasters, and the ratio of direct economic losses from disasters to GDP. From 2021 to 2024, these have decreased by 31.3 percent, 23 percent, and 34.3 percent, respectively, compared to the 13th Five-Year Plan period," he added.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's emergency management governance model steadily shifted toward pre-incident prevention. The country completed its first comprehensive national survey on natural disaster risks and launched targeted safety campaigns in key sectors with notable results, according to Wang.
He added that the national emergency command system was upgraded, material reserves and rescue forces were significantly reinforced, and aid delivery to disaster-hit communities became markedly more efficient.
In terms of safety risk monitoring and early warning, Wang said that China achieved real-time oversight of high-risk industries such as hazardous chemicals and coal mining, adding that automation and workforce reduction measures also contributed to improved workplace safety.
China makes breakthroughs in emergency management system, capacity-building: official
At least four people were killed, and ten others injured after Israel attacked a hotel in the Lebanese capital Beirut early on Sunday, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said.
Israeli forces launched a drone attack at dawn, targeting a room at the Ramada hotel in the heart of the city. Following the strike, Israel said that the targets were key commanders of the Lebanon Corps of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.
The drone attack was the first Israeli attack on central Beirut since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah resumed, according to media reports.
The Ramada Hotel is located in Beirut's Raouche area, a popular tourist district near the landmark Pigeon Rocks along the Mediterranean coast.
All the windows in the targeted hotel room were shattered, and several adjacent rooms and the exterior facade of the hotel building were also damaged by the airstrike, according to a China Media Group reporter at the scene.
Witnesses said the area had been considered safe, and many displaced people fleeing southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut had taken refuge here, with some staying in hotels and others sleeping in their cars along nearby roads.
"At night, it was quiet until 1:35; there were no sounds of drones or anything at all. Suddenly, we heard something like a shell—very loud. We thought it was a warplane bombing in the area. We ran and saw smoke coming from the hotel, and glass was scattered in the streets. There was black smoke and dust. We ran to the Ramada hotel on the fourth floor, where flames were coming out. People began to exit, ambulances and information branch personnel arrived, and crowds formed," said Shawki Sharifi, an eyewitness.
Another eyewitness said the area was blocked after the attack, and the injured were taken to hospitals for treatment. Authorities said that there were fatalities at the scene.
On Sunday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement, saying that the Israeli Navy carried out a precision strike on Beirut, targeting five senior commanders of Iran's IRGC Quds Force who were meeting at a hotel in the city.
The IDF said that the five commanders, "hiding in a civilian hotel," were all killed in the operation. The commanders had served in the Lebanese and Palestinian branches of IRGC and were involved in providing funding and intelligence to Hezbollah and Hamas, the IDF said in the statement.
The Lebanese authorities have not provided more details about the victims or the incident.
At least 4 killed, 10 injured in Israeli strike on hotel in Beirut
