Following Shandong Province, Jiangxi Province has issued implementation measures stipulating that “domestic projects employing chemical processes for the first time must undergo safety and reliability assessments.”

On January 14, the Jiangxi Provincial Emergency Management Department issued a notice on the “Measures for the Implementation of Safety and Reliability Assessment for the First Domestic Use of Chemical Processes in Jiangxi Province (Trial).” The notice stipulates that any hazardous chemical production project intending to employ a chemical process being used domestically for the first time must undergo a safety and reliability assessment.

Provisional Measures for the Implementation of Safety and Reliability Verification of Chemical Process Technologies, First Adopted in Jiangxi Province

Article 1 In order to standardize the work of safety and reliability assessment for chemical processes used for the first time within Jiangxi Province (hereinafter referred to as “Safety and Reliability Assessment”), and in accordance with the requirements of the Work Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Regulations on the Safety Management of Hazardous Chemicals, the Measures for the Safety Supervision and Administration of Hazardous Chemical Construction Projects, and the Guidelines for Safety Risk Prevention and Control of Hazardous Chemical Production Construction Projects (Trial), among other relevant laws and regulations, this Measures is hereby formulated in light of the actual conditions prevailing in the Province.

Article 2: Any hazardous chemical production project within Jiangxi Province that intends to employ a chemical process used for the first time in China shall undergo a safety and reliability assessment.

The Provincial Emergency Management Department serves as the reviewing authority for the province’s first-ever safety and reliability assessment of chemical processes. The specific assessment is conducted by experts organized through the Provincial Institute of Emergency Management Science (hereinafter referred to as the Provincial Institute).

Article 3: The “chemical process used for the first time in China” as referred to in these Measures includes:

(1) The product is being manufactured domestically for the first time and involves a chemical reaction process;

(2) The proposed process technology is a laboratory‑scale technology that is being subjected to pilot‑scale scale‑up or industrial application for the first time in China.

(3) The product is already manufactured by other chemical enterprises in China, but its process route, feedstock route, or operational control strategy is being adopted for the first time domestically;

(4) Production process technologies that introduce mature foreign manufacturing processes and are applied for the first time in China;

(5) Although other domestic chemical enterprises have already adopted the same process route to produce the same product, if their production capacity or key production units (excluding increases in the number of equipment sets) have undergone significant changes;

(6) Other enterprises, although employing the same process and raw-material routes, have experienced production safety accidents due to process‑related technical factors.

Processes that have been upgraded and optimized using advanced technologies such as microchannel reactors and tubular reactors, and which, following a safety risk assessment, demonstrate a significant reduction in process‑related safety risks, shall not be subject to the initial‑use certification of chemical process safety and reliability.

Article 4: Enterprises intending to adopt the aforementioned chemical processes for the first time shall, prior to the review of safety conditions for the construction project, independently or by engaging another entity, prepare a Safety and Reliability Justification Report (hereinafter referred to as the “Justification Report”) and, in accordance with the relevant provisions, complete the Application Form for Safety and Reliability Justification of Domestically First‑Used Chemical Processes in Jiangxi Province (hereinafter referred to as the “Application Form”; see Annex 1), and submit the justification application to the Provincial Emergency Management Department.

The justification report shall include, but not be limited to, the following contents (see Appendix 2 for the outline):

(1) Source of the process technology and a comparative analysis with similar technologies domestically and internationally;

(2) Clearly define the scope of chemical processes that are being used domestically for the first time;

(3) Results and supporting documentation related to pilot-scale, semi‑industrial, and industrial trials of the process technology;

(4) Production scale, product mix, and quality specifications;

(5) The principal raw and auxiliary materials, intermediate products, final products, and their physicochemical property parameters for hazardous chemicals;

(6) Analysis of hazards and harmful factors in the construction project;

(7) Process flow description, process flow diagram, and material balance diagram;

(8) Thermodynamic analysis of process scale-up;

(9) Process safety and reliability analysis, along with corresponding countermeasures;

(10) Principles, criteria, and selection schemes for major equipment;

(11) Analysis of the safety and reliability of major equipment, along with corresponding countermeasures;

(12) Safety and reliability analysis of the automatic control and interlock scheme, along with corresponding countermeasures;

(13) Safety, fire protection, and emergency response measures to be implemented.

Article 5: Upon receipt of an enterprise’s application for the first-time use of a chemical process, the Hazardous Chemicals Division of the Provincial Emergency Management Department shall, within two working days, forward the supporting documentation to the Provincial Academy of Safety Science. The Provincial Academy of Safety Science shall, within five working days, organize and complete a preliminary review of the submitted materials. If, following review, it is determined that the chemical process declared by the enterprise is not being used in China for the first time, the materials shall be returned, accompanied by a written explanation, and the Hazardous Chemicals Division of the Provincial Emergency Management Department shall formally notify the applicant within five working days. For cases where the initial review confirms that the chemical process is indeed being used for the first time, the Provincial Academy of Safety Science shall, within fifteen working days, convene experts to conduct a safety and reliability assessment (excluding any time required for on-site verification or revisions to the application materials), and shall submit the experts’ findings in writing to the Hazardous Chemicals Division of the Provincial Emergency Management Department.

Article 6: The safety and reliability assessment shall be organized and conducted through expert review meetings. The expert panel shall comprise no fewer than five members, who must meet the following requirements:

(1) Includes experts in reaction safety risk assessment, process engineering, equipment, electrical and instrumentation systems, and safety.

(2) Priority shall be given to experts who possess a high level of theoretical expertise and substantial practical experience in product development, process design and industrialization, and safe production.

(3) Included in the expert database at or above the provincial level (excluding safety risk assessments);

(4) Candidates shall possess sound professional ethics and have no record of any violations of laws or regulations.

(5) There shall be no direct or indirect conflicts of interest with any entity involved in the process under consideration.

For cases requiring verification of the substantive content of documentary evidence, at least two experts must be selected to conduct on-site inspections.

Article 7: Expert review shall render a clear opinion; the review outcome shall be either “approved” or “not approved.” If the review is not approved, the relevant enterprise may resubmit its application after supplementing and refining the supporting materials.

Article 8: Any case falling under any of the following circumstances shall, without exception, fail to pass the safety and reliability assessment:

(1) The process route does not comply with national or provincial industrial policies, or it employs outdated process equipment that has been explicitly ordered to be phased out or prohibited;

(2) Where, in accordance with the relevant regulations, small-scale trials, pilot-scale trials, or industrial-scale trials should have been conducted but were not;

(3) The submitted materials are insufficient to adequately demonstrate the process’s safety and reliability;

(4) Any act of concealing key information or submitting false documents or materials;

(5) Other circumstances that do not meet the requirements for safety and reliability justification.

Article 9: Following review by the Hazardous Chemicals Division of the Provincial Emergency Management Department and approval by the responsible departmental leader, the expert opinions shall be communicated in writing to the enterprise and the local emergency management authority within five working days.

Article 10: Enterprises shall bear full responsibility for the authenticity of the submitted supporting documentation and shall actively cooperate with on-site verification activities.

Members of the expert panel are strictly prohibited from soliciting or accepting any property or benefits from enterprises or other affiliated entities, and must not seek any other improper gains. They shall rigorously comply with confidentiality provisions, sign confidentiality agreements and conflict-of-interest avoidance undertakings, and conscientiously fulfill their corresponding obligations.

Article 11: These Measures shall enter into force on February 15, 2026.

Source: Jiangxi Provincial Emergency Management Department