(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-22 14:16

The State Council, China's cabinet, issued its Regulations on Management of Large Scale Mass Activities on Friday, adopting stricter security measures to tighten control over such events.

The statute, signed by Premier Wen Jiabao, requires organizers of "large scale mass activities" to apply for official approval from security departments 20 days in advance.

"Large-scale mass activities" refer to those events with more than 1,000 participants, such as sports events, concerts, exhibitions, fairs, and firework displays.

"With a large number of participants, large-scale mass activities present more security problems and high risks," said an official with the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, without giving his name.

Over 14,000 large-scale mass activities of various kinds are held annually throughout the country, with a total of nearly 300 million participants, according to the official.

"In such events, accidents and criminal activities have occasionally taken place. Some even led to major incidents which jeopardized people's lives and public security." he said.

"It is quite essential and exigent to stipulate such a statute to specify security responsibilities and measures for supervision and management, so as to ensure the safety of large-scale mass activities," he said.

According to the regulations, people who have organized large-scale mass activities without official permission will be fined 100,000 yuan (about US$ 13,300) to 300,000 yuan (US$ 39,900).

And those who change the time, venue, content or scale of activities permitted by security organs will be fined 10,000 yuan (about US$ 1,330)to 50,000 yuan (US$ 3,990).

The statute also demands security departments to work out plans to deal with emergencies and blue prints of security supervision over large-scale mass activities.

It is to take effect from October 1, 2007.