Safety of explosives and cruise ships on agenda

A number of ministry-level departments, including those responsible for industry and information technology, transport, and tax administration, have responded recently to issues of public concern.

Campaign to make storage of civil explosives safer

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will launch a campaign to make the storage of civil use explosives safer.

The campaign is part of efforts to strengthen the safety of hazardous chemicals storage in the wake of the deadly explosion in Beirut on Aug 4.

Authorities at all levels that oversee the civil use explosives industry and companies that make explosives must carry out their obligations strictly, follow laws, regulations and industry standards and keep improving long-term mechanisms to ensure work safety, the ministry said on Aug 10.

They should immediately carry out comprehensive inspections of stored explosives, as well as semifinished products and inflammable raw materials, it said.

They must strengthen inspection and management of the sale of ammonium nitrate, and make sure it is sold only to companies making civil use explosives, medicines and refrigerant, and educational and research institutes, as prescribed by the State Council, the ministry said.

It said the authorities should impose strict punishment on companies and individuals that violate related laws.

Alert on flood and typhoon risks to cruise operations

Authorities should take scientific, reasonable and powerful measures to ensure the safety of cruise ship voyages during the flood and typhoon season, the Ministry of Transport said.

In a notice issued to the transport authorities of Hubei and Hainan provinces and Chongqing, the Changjiang River Administration of Navigational Affairs and the Hainan Maritime Safety Administration, the ministry said the authorities must attach great importance to the impact floods and typhoons may have on cruise ship operations.

They must make sound emergency plans to deal with COVID-19 and exercise caution when allowing the resumption of cruise ship operations after approval from local pandemic control and prevention authorities, the ministry said on Wednesday.

The transport authorities should also strengthen cooperation with local emergency response, water resources, health and tourism departments, it said.

They should remain vigilant and enhance inspections to make sure cruise ships carry out their disease-prevention duties fully, the ministry said, adding that cruise ships should cap their occupancy rate at no more than 70 percent.

The ministry said the authorities should follow the weather closely, issue timely alerts of potential floods and typhoons and restrict sailings in the face of such extreme weather events.

895.3b yuan of export tax rebates processed by July

Tax authorities around the country processed 895.3 billion yuan ($129 billion) of export tax rebates in the first seven months of the year, an official from the State Taxation Administration said.

The average time to process rebates has dropped to no more than eight workdays from 10 workdays last year, Xie Wen, head of the administration's Goods and Services Tax Department, told a news conference on Thursday.

The prompt processing of rebates had helped ease the financial pressure on exporters and contributed to efforts to keep foreign trade stable, he said.

Tax authorities had raised the rate of export tax rebates for 1,464 products since March 20, with up to 25,000 exporters benefiting from the move by the end of June, Xie said.

The authorities have been working to further improve the processing of tax rebates by promoting paper-free and online processing and other measures, he said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the authorities have allowed all exporters to apply for tax rebates online, Xie said.

The authorities have reversed normal procedures and are processing rebate applications for companies in urgent need before conducting field examinations, he said.