Officials vow to boost disaster response

Ministers and officials from the countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative have pledged to strengthen cooperation on disaster response and build a faster, more coordinated emergency rescue mechanism, at an international forum held in Sanya, Hainan province, this week.

The 2025 Belt and Road Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management brought together representatives from dozens of countries and international organizations.

Chaired by China's Emergency Management Minister Wang Xiangxi, the conference's council meeting approved the accession of seven new member states: Tonga, Zimbabwe, Georgia, Malawi, The Gambia, Comoros and Honduras. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center also joined as partner organizations.

Wang said that since the cooperation mechanism was established in November 2023, China has played a leading role in implementing 14 cooperative measures. These include a training program that has so far cultivated more than 1,800 emergency management experts and officials from countries taking part in the Belt and Road Initiative.

"We are willing to work with all parties to deepen cooperation …and contribute to the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative," Wang added.

Lai Hongzhou, director of the Ministry of Emergency Management's international cooperation department, said in an interview that the meeting's core goal was to foster a more efficient international emergency response system. "We hope that through mutual learning, we can form a synergy to respond quickly and effectively when Belt and Road partner countries are hit by disasters," he said.

The meeting approved a revised charter for the mechanism and announced the establishment of two new subsidiary bodies: a Belt and Road Enterprise Sustainable Development Center and a working group on mine standards internationalization. Attendees also observed a water rescue drill and a demonstration of advanced Chinese emergency response equipment.

The conference's location in Hainan, which is preparing for the islandwide special customs operations of its free trade port on Dec 18, was deemed particularly significant. The province's experience with Super Typhoon Yagi last year underscored the growing challenges posed by extreme weather.

Zimbabwe's Minister of Local Government and Public Works, Daniel Garwe, emphasized the importance of the platform for Global South nations. "It is through this vital exchange of knowledge, technology, and best practices among developing countries that we foster solidarity, share learning, and build solutions that are not only effective but also cost-effective and sustainable," he said.

Kamal Kishore, the UN Assistant Secretary-General and Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction, praised the mechanism. "It shows how to carry out international cooperation and how to organically integrate an international cooperation framework with the major goal of reducing disaster losses," Kishore said, highlighting China's effective exploration in applying artificial intelligence and big data to early warning systems.

chenbowen@chinadaily.com.cn