The number of major accidents and resulting fatalities in China in 2024 saw a significant year-on-year decline of nearly 50% according to the ministry of emergency management.
News agency Xinhua has reported that in 2024 China experienced nine major accidents resulting in 146 deaths, which represent a drop of 43.8% and 49.8% respectively, compared to the previous year 2023.
According to ministry of emergency management spokesperson the total number of various types of accidents also continued to decline in 2024. A total of 21,800 production safety accidents occurred throughout the year, resulting in 19,600 deaths, marking a decrease of 11% and 7.6% respectively, year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the safety production situation remained stable in most regions across the country, as no major accidents occurred in seven major industries, including chemicals, fireworks, rail transport, and air transport, she said.
The natural disasters that occurred nationwide in 2024 primarily consisted of floods, typhoons, low temperatures and snow disasters.
Various natural disasters affected 94.13m people to varying degrees, with 856 people dead or missing due to the disasters, and direct economic losses amounting to CNY401.1bn ($54.7bn).
The ministry spokesperson said, "Last year, nationwide precipitation was generally above average, leading to frequent floods and geological disasters. In some areas, the duration of rainfall was prolonged, the affected regions overlapped, and the rainfall amounts broke historical records."