On October 2nd, 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) published the new draft Law on Safety of Hazardous Chemicals to solicit public comments and suggestions.

The initiative of drafting the Law was first launched in the wake of the 2015 Tianjin blasts, and then resumed and accelerated in June 2019, following the institutional reform of the Chinese government and the 2019 Xiangshui chemical plant explosion. From January to May this year, an older version of the draft was released to a limited range of entities (including emergency management administrations at various levels, relevant departments of the State, some central enterprises and industry associations, etc.) for an internal consultation.