Interpretation of the “14th Five-Year Plan for Safe Production of Hazardous Chemicals”

Release Date:

2022-03-23

　　Recently, the Ministry of Emergency Management issued the “14th Five-Year Plan for Safe Production of Hazardous Chemicals” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). To facilitate a thorough understanding of its contents and ensure effective implementation, the following interpretation of key provisions is provided:
　　I. What is the background and significance of the issuance of the “Planning Scheme”?
　　Since the launch of the 13th Five-Year Plan, all regions, relevant departments, and related entities have thoroughly studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on work safety, earnestly carried out the “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Comprehensively Strengthening Work Safety in the Field of Hazardous Chemicals,” conducted comprehensive governance of hazardous chemical safety, and fully launched a three-year special campaign to address safety issues in this sector. As a result, significant progress has been made in preventing and controlling safety risks, and the goals and tasks set forth in the 13th Five-Year Plan have been largely accomplished.
　　The chemical industry is a pillar sector and a traditional strength of China. At the same time, China is the world’s largest producer of chemicals. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s chemical industry is at a critical juncture of upgrading and transformation—shifting from “large” to “strong.” Industrial restructuring is accelerating, cluster‑based development is gaining momentum, low‑carbon industries are expanding robustly, and the dual‑circulation model is becoming increasingly pronounced. Refining and other petrochemical sectors are being upgraded, traditional chemical industries such as chlor‑alkali are undergoing consolidation, new coal‑chemical technologies are being modernized, and the new materials sector is experiencing vigorous growth. Hydrogen energy and other emerging clean energy sources are increasingly used as feedstocks in chemical production. Chemical industrial parks have become key platforms for advancing specialization and intensive development, with several world‑class petrochemical hubs taking shape along the eastern coast. A large number of petrochemical, new‑materials, and modern coal‑chemical projects are being rapidly deployed, further highlighting China’s enormous market advantages, even as its dependence on imported oil and gas continues to rise. The 14th Five-Year Plan calls for strategic adjustments to the chemical industry’s structure, with the new development philosophy accelerating the pace of structural upgrading—overall benefiting from higher industry concentration and improved intrinsic safety. However, the inherently high‑risk nature of the chemical sector remains unchanged, and the deep‑seated issues accumulated over years of rapid growth have yet to be fundamentally resolved. Traditional risks across production, storage, transportation, and waste disposal remain elevated, while risks associated with industrial relocation, aging facilities, and emerging fields such as new energy, offshore oil, and hydrogen energy are becoming increasingly prominent. With multiple risk factors overlapping and entering a phase of concentrated exposure, the task of preventing and defusing major safety hazards is both daunting and complex. Overall, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s safe production of hazardous chemicals remains in a critical phase of overcoming obstacles and tackling tough challenges. While favorable conditions persist—such as steadily improving safety trends—the sector also faces severe challenges arising from the superimposition of old and new risks.
　　In the face of new challenges, a new landscape, and new requirements, and in order to implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the plenary sessions of the 19th CPC Central Committee, as well as the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on strengthening work related to workplace safety, this Plan has been formulated to provide guidance for ensuring workplace safety in the areas of hazardous chemicals, oil and gas, and fireworks and firecrackers during the 14th Five-Year Plan period; to reinforce the prevention and control of major safety risks; to effectively curb and prevent serious and extremely serious accidents; and to comprehensively elevate the overall level of workplace safety, in accordance with the National Emergency Response System Plan and the Workplace Safety Plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan period.
　　II. What are the overall considerations underlying the drafting of the “Planning Scheme”?
　　The overarching rationale behind drafting the Planning Scheme is to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on work safety, approaching the issue from the perspective of balancing development and safety, viewing it through the lens of embarking on a new journey toward fully building a modern socialist country, and adopting a systems‑based approach. Consistently, the scheme prioritizes addressing systemic safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals, emphasizing three key areas: strengthening the safety governance system, enhancing intrinsic safety, and accelerating the digital transformation of safety management. It focuses closely on major hazard sources, high‑risk industries, and critical regions, adhering to a working methodology that combines source‑level prevention, addressing both symptoms and root causes, and advancing in a systematic manner. Rather than striving for comprehensive coverage, the plan proceeds within feasible limits, balancing strategic guidance with tactical operability, and laying out a systematic framework for work during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Given that the safety of hazardous chemicals constitutes a top priority in preventing and mitigating major risks, the Planning Scheme centers on hazardous chemicals while also encompassing oil and gas as well as fireworks and firecrackers.
　　III. What are the main contents of the “Planning Scheme”?
　　The “Planning Scheme” consists of six sections, organized into three major parts. The first part is a general overview, comprising Sections 1 and 2, which primarily outlines the achievements and key challenges during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the prevailing circumstances and challenges, as well as the guiding principles, basic principles, main objectives for the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and the long-term vision for 2035. The second part provides a detailed analysis, encompassing Sections 3, 4, and 5. Centered on the systematic prevention of safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals, it adopts an approach guided by problems, goals, and outcomes, simultaneously implementing institutional and engineering measures to put in place a series of policy initiatives and project undertakings aimed at strengthening the safety governance system and enhancing intrinsic safety levels. The third part addresses supporting measures, constituting Section 6, and sets forth requirements regarding implementation mechanisms, the execution of priority measures, diversified funding mechanisms, pilot and demonstration projects, and planning evaluation.
　　IV. What are the guiding principles, basic principles, and main objectives set forth in the “Standardization Plan”?
　　The guiding principle set forth in the Planning Scheme is to take Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as the guiding ideology, thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on work safety, consistently prioritize the prevention and control of safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals in efforts to avert and defuse major risks, and earnestly carry out the arrangements outlined in the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Comprehensively Strengthening Work Safety in the Handling of Hazardous Chemicals. The plan adheres to the principle of coordinating development and safety, upholds the paramountcy of the people and life, sets the effective containment of serious and extremely serious accidents as its primary objective, and uses the three-year special campaign for improving hazardous‑chemical safety—implemented on a rolling basis—as a key lever. It focuses on addressing critical priorities, reinforcing foundational capabilities, plugging loopholes, and making up for shortcomings; places greater emphasis on building a robust safety governance system, enhancing intrinsic safety, and advancing the digital transformation of management practices; strengthens source‑level governance, addresses both symptoms and root causes, and promotes systematic progress; and elevates the level of systematic, precise, and intelligent safety management. By fundamentally eliminating potential hazards and resolving underlying issues, the plan seeks to comprehensively drive the transformation and upgrading of the chemical industry, thereby providing strong support for implementing the new development philosophy, fostering a new development paradigm, promoting high‑quality development, and building a modern socialist country in all respects.
　　The “Planning Scheme” sets forth the following guiding principles: First,理念引领，标本兼治—conceptual leadership and addressing both symptoms and root causes. Upholding the philosophy of safe development, we will integrate safety into every stage and sector of the chemical industry, intensify targeted remediation efforts, enforce stringent entry‑level controls, continuously strengthen foundational measures, establish long‑term mechanisms, resolutely prevent and curb serious and extremely serious accidents, and steadily improve workplace safety in the handling of hazardous chemicals, thereby using high‑level safety to support high‑quality development. Second,构建体系，系统治理—building a systemic framework and pursuing comprehensive governance. Adopting a systems‑thinking approach, we will prioritize the prevention of systemic safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals, emphasize corporate principal responsibility, reinforce government regulatory accountability, standardize the construction and safety management of chemical industrial parks, and coordinate the enhancement of systems covering safety responsibilities, hazard identification and elimination, preventive control, intrinsic safety, personnel training, and basic support, thus establishing a hazardous‑chemicals safety governance system commensurate with China’s status as a major chemical‑producing nation. Third,加大投入，本质安全—increasing investment and advancing intrinsic safety. Placing safety first, we will make the enhancement of intrinsic safety a core task, focusing on key areas such as improving safety standards in chemical industrial parks, strengthening safety prevention and control at large oil and gas storage facilities, upgrading enterprise safety practices, providing training for workers, and promoting the integration of the Industrial Internet with hazardous‑chemical production safety, while implementing a series of projects aimed at elevating intrinsic safety. Fourth,创新突破，注重协同—driving innovation and fostering synergy. Guided by clear objectives, problem‑oriented approaches, and a focus on tangible outcomes, we will regard innovative practices as the crucial lever for overcoming challenges in hazardous‑chemical safety, advance the digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of safety management, reinforce risk control across all stages of the hazardous‑chemical lifecycle, as well as in oil and gas extraction, storage, and transportation, and in the fireworks and firecrackers sector, concentrating on major hazard sources, priority industries, and critical regions, while strengthening vertical coordination and inter‑departmental collaboration to establish a working mechanism in which enterprises assume primary responsibility, cities and counties ensure implementation, provinces take overall accountability, and the national government provides guidance.
　　The “Planning Scheme” sets the following work targets for 2025: continuously improve the institutional, mechanistic, and legal frameworks for preventing and defusing major safety risks associated with hazardous chemicals; further strengthen the accountability system for workplace safety; reinforce safety oversight responsibilities in chemical industrial parks; effectively curb extremely serious and major accidents involving hazardous chemicals; achieve a significant reduction in the total number of accidents across the chemical, oil and gas, and fireworks and firecrackers sectors, as well as in the number of major chemical accidents; and establish a comprehensive system for identifying, addressing, and preventing hazards related to hazardous chemicals. Specifically, the objectives are summarized as “one decline and three notable improvements”: the number of accidents and fatalities in the chemical, oil and gas, and fireworks and firecrackers industries will continue to decrease—specifically, the number of chemical accidents and associated fatalities, as well as the number of major and above‑level accidents and their fatalities, will fall by more than 15% compared with the 13th Five-Year Plan period; the number of oil and gas accidents and their fatalities will decline by more than 15% relative to the same period; and the number of production and operation accidents involving fireworks and firecrackers and their fatalities will drop by over 20%. In addition, progress in building a robust safety governance system will accelerate markedly, intrinsic safety levels will be significantly enhanced, and safety management in key areas will be substantially strengthened. By 2035, the long-term vision is to have a fully established and rigorously implemented accountability system for safe production of hazardous chemicals, with major safety risks effectively contained and controlled, bringing workplace safety into a relatively stable phase. The mortality rate per 100,000 workers will reach or approach the level of developed countries, and modernization of the safety governance system and governance capacity will be essentially achieved.
　　V. What specific measures does the “Planning Scheme” adopt to establish a governance system for the safety of hazardous chemicals?
　　The “Planning Scheme” outlines six key areas for building a safety governance system for hazardous chemicals: First, the safety production responsibility system—emphasizing the implementation of the “Three Musts,” strengthening the responsibilities of local Party and government leaders, regulatory authorities, chemical park administrators, and enterprises, and addressing the “last-mile” challenges in grassroots supervision and enterprise compliance. Second, the hazard identification and remediation system—making the establishment of enterprise‑led hazard identification and remediation frameworks a priority, shifting enterprises from passively accepting safety oversight to proactively managing safety, and transitioning from government‑centered administrative inspections to routine, enterprise‑driven hazard detection. Third, the safety prevention and control system—advancing preventive measures at the source, improving and enforcing foundational regulations, prioritizing the management of major safety risks, and comprehensively enhancing chemical risk assessment, precise oversight of major hazard sources, tiered control of high‑risk activities, and overall enterprise safety management. Fourth, the intrinsic safety development system—strengthening risk prevention for industrial relocation and aging facilities, carrying out targeted campaigns to upgrade chemical parks, implement classified rectification of enterprises, and address illegal and non‑compliant small‑scale chemical operations, thereby fostering an intrinsically safe development model characterized by stringent准入 standards, standardized site planning, and cutting‑edge technologies. Fifth, the workforce training system—using rigorous personnel qualification requirements as a leverage point to compel enterprises to fulfill their principal responsibilities, while comprehensively advancing the development of enterprise safety management technical teams, enhancing the safety skills of operators in key positions, and expanding access to integrated online‑offline safety training programs. Sixth, the foundational support and assurance system—focusing on bolstering legal and regulatory frameworks, intelligent management, technology‑driven safety, social co‑governance, emergency response capacity, and international cooperation and exchange.
　　VI. What specific measures does the “Planning Scheme” include to enhance intrinsic safety?
　　The “Planning Scheme” proposes implementing five major projects to enhance intrinsic safety: First, the Chemical Park Safety Enhancement Project. Building on safety assessments and tiered improvement efforts, it will focus on ensuring the effective implementation of tailored remediation and upgrading measures for each park, fostering a number of intrinsically safe chemical parks and carrying out key projects for preventing and controlling major safety risks. Second, the Large-Scale Oil and Gas Storage Facility Safety Prevention and Control Project. It will promote the upgrading and retrofitting of equipment, facilities, and control systems at large oil and gas storage sites, achieving 100% coverage and operational readiness for four critical systems—gas detection, video surveillance, emergency shut-off, and lightning‑warning—and eliminating all enterprises with inadequate external safety protection distances. It will also drive the digital and intelligent transformation of safety management, pilot and demonstrate cutting-edge technologies, and facilitate their widespread application. Third, the Hazardous Chemical Enterprise Safety Renovation Project. In coordination with relevant authorities, it will systematically advance the relocation and renovation of hazardous chemical production facilities located in densely populated urban areas, upgrade internal plant layouts that fail to meet regulatory requirements, and continuously implement upgrades to safety instrumented systems, automated controls, process optimization, and technological modernization. It will also enhance capabilities for safety risk monitoring and early warning, as well as for intelligent, information‑based management of tank farms and warehouses, while piloting unmanned operations at high‑hazard process units. Fourth, the Hazardous Chemical Safety Training Network Construction Project. High‑level regional safety training bases serving surrounding areas will be established in key regions and chemical parks; enterprises will be encouraged to develop integrated online–offline safety training spaces; a number of online training brands will be cultivated; and standardized teaching materials and digital resource libraries will be developed. Fifth, the “Industrial Internet + Hazardous Chemical Safety Production” Project. Pilot construction plans will be formulated, focusing on the enterprise, chemical park, and government levels, to build several enterprise‑, industry‑, and region‑specific platforms, launch a series of demonstration applications, and advance the digital, networked, and intelligent upgrading of safety risk management and control measures.
　　VII. What specific measures does the “Planning Scheme” adopt to strengthen targeted, category‑specific approaches and precisely manage safety risks in key areas?
　　The “Planning Scheme” sets forth requirements for strengthening tailored measures and precisely managing safety risks in eight key areas. First, in the chemical industry: rigorously supervise enterprises holding safety permits; strictly enforce control measures for major hazard sources and critical hazardous chemical processes; and rigorously conduct risk identification and management for other chemical enterprises that use hazardous chemicals. Second, in the pharmaceutical industry: tightly regulate chemical synthesis‑based drug manufacturers; bring all pharmaceutical enterprises involving major hazard sources or critical hazardous chemical processes under the priority oversight of the hazardous chemical safety risk monitoring and early warning system; and rigorously carry out risk identification and management for other pharmaceutical enterprises that use hazardous chemicals. Third, in the handling and trading of hazardous chemicals: strictly implement control measures for major hazard sources; establish and progressively improve a nationwide safety regulatory system for the trade of hazardous chemicals; conduct safety risk assessments of chemical storage tank areas and undertake targeted remediation based on classification; standardize the operation of new types of vehicle fuels; launch pilot projects for smart gas stations; and develop safety standards for hydrogen refueling stations. Fourth, in the oil and gas sector: prioritize safety in onshore and offshore oil and gas extraction, long‑distance pipelines, and storage facilities; establish a new safety supervision mechanism featuring comprehensive accountability at the corporate headquarters and oversight by government authorities; refine and fully implement measures to manage major safety risks in oil and gas extraction, storage, and transportation; and continuously enhance capabilities to ensure safe increases in reserves and expanded production capacity. Fifth, in the fireworks and firecrackers industry: adopt a dual‑pronged approach of developing centralized zones and conducting special safety rectifications, focusing on “two reductions and two improvements” (reducing the number of factories and personnel, while raising industrial concentration and levels of mechanization and automation); build national transformation‑and‑upgrading centralized zones for fireworks and firecrackers; thoroughly identify and address potential hazards; and construct a modern fireworks and firecrackers industry characterized by intensive production, standardized operations, and controllable safety. In addition, actively coordinate with and support relevant departments to strengthen safety management throughout the disposal, transportation, and use of hazardous chemicals, thereby further enhancing overall safety assurance capabilities.
　　VIII. What are the next steps for implementing the “Planning Scheme”?
　　To strengthen implementation, the Plan outlines five safeguard measures: First, establish and improve an implementation mechanism. Enhance organizational leadership over plan execution; provincial emergency management departments shall, based on local conditions, formulate implementation plans, set clear priorities, delineate responsibilities, define timelines, and establish multi‑stakeholder mechanisms involving key regions, industries, and enterprises to ensure timely achievement of objectives. Second, rigorously implement priority measures. All regions and enterprises shall annually break down goals and tasks into specific actions, develop timetables and roadmaps, identify effective platforms and leverage points, adopt checklist‑based management and project‑oriented advancement, and align these efforts with annual plans and long‑term strategies to ensure concrete results. Third, reinforce a diversified investment mechanism. Strengthen policy support and guidance, actively explore new funding channels, and encourage local governments, chemical industrial parks, and enterprises to increase investment, launching major projects for hazardous chemical safety infrastructure and enterprise safety upgrades. This will foster a diversified investment framework in which enterprises play the leading role, local authorities provide multifaceted support, and civil society actively participates. Fourth, conduct pilot and demonstration initiatives. Emphasize the guiding role of pilots, organize early‑stage trials, encourage exploration and innovation, and leverage demonstration effects to promptly distill and disseminate replicable, scalable best practices, thereby providing strong support for the effective implementation of the Plan. Fifth, enforce rigorous plan evaluation. Establish an evaluation mechanism for plan implementation, conduct ongoing monitoring and assessment of progress, comprehensively track advances and outcomes, summarize and promote successful approaches, promptly identify issues, and make timely adjustments and optimizations.