June of 2019 coincides with the 18th "National Production Safety Month" of China. On June 28, Bureau Veritas hosted a "Focus - Safety & Development" summit forum in Beijing, where in-depth discussions in respect to construction safety, operation safety and product safety were carried out, with a view to identifying safety risks for enterprises and taking advantage of the values added by third-party institutions to promote further development of safety management. Over 200 guests attended this forum, including government representatives, experts and scholars, industry elites, mainstream media, etc.
Mr. David Xun Wang, Senior Vice President of Bureau Veritas, said in his opening address that China is undergoing an economic transition period, during which safety management is facing particular challenges in the process of extensive industrialization and urbanization and the "safety red line" is of obvious significance. Enterprises must respond to the call of government on strengthening safety, by raising safety awareness, establishing the concept of safety-based development, centering production safety work around advance of high-quality development, and adhering to the notion of "life first" in execution of safety management. By organizing this event, Bureau Veritas hopes to aggregate forces from all walks of life to actively explore new paths, new thinking and new drives for upgrading safety management and to improve the safety conditions of the ongoing economic development.
Mr. Yu Qunli, Deputy Director of Department of Commodity Inspection, General Administration of Customs of P.R.C., pointed out in his address that all customs commodity inspection authorities across China hold a joint commitment to improving the early-warning system for quality safety risks of import/export commodities and steadily advancing the practice of third-party evidence collection.
Mr. Yao Lei, Deputy Director of Development Research Center, State Administration for Market Regulation, said that we shall scientifically handle the relation between safety and development, defending the bottom line of safety and elevating the altitude line of development; we shall correctly handle the relation between government and market, clarifying the primary responsibilities of government as supervisor and the enterprises' responsibilities as economic subjects, thus forming a social co-governance mechanism; we shall promote the construction of quality infrastructure, making full use of the strengths of third-party inspection, testing and certification institutions in "delivering trust and promoting development".
Mr. Lou Xiaorong, Deputy Investigator of Construction Safety Supervision Office, Construction Quality & Safety Supervision Department, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, analyzed the status quo and reform objectives of construction safety supervision in China. Mr. Wang Zaosheng, Chairman of China Association of Engineering Consultants, pointed out that the construction supervision system has been playing a significant role in China's economic construction, especially in the area of engineering construction. Professor Zhu Guoqing, Chairman of Fire Control Engineering Institute, School of Safety Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, said during the Expert Interpretation session that smart fire protection is an essential element of smart city, and this year, a fundamental smart fire protection framework is taking shape in China, the progress of which shall be advanced in an orderly and sustainable manner.
Mr. Wei Yungang, General Manager of Oil, Gas and Chemicals Business Group and Vice President of Bureau Veritas, reviewed the development of Bureau Veritas's safety business in its 191-year history, from ensuring the safety of houses, buildings and manufacturing plants to providing compliance services to all types of enterprises; from increasing the level of intrinsic safety in design stages to providing asset integrity management services in operation stage. Now Bureau Veritas has been applying internationally advanced safety experiences to the safety culture stage of domestic enterprises.
During the Round Table session, guests conducted enthusiastic exchanges regarding how to prevent and mitigate safety risks and shared their experiences and insights in practices, the topics discussed including co-existence of chemical enterprises' and cities' development, application of technologies to new safety areas, alignment of Chinese companies' safety management with international practices in overseas projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, etc.
By virtue of their strengths in terms of independence, impartiality, objectiveness, professionalism and authoritativeness, the third-party testing, inspection and certification institutions have been adding values to safety management of enterprises. For example, they participate in making development policy and standards; perform supervision duties; and provide consultancy and verification services. The third-party institutions approved by governments can assist them in performing supervision, while at the same time the governments adopt market-based supervision and regulation approaches which allow the third-party enterprises who meet the relevant inclusion criteria to act as providers of governmental supervision services. This practice will become a trend in the future under an open policy environment.
It is Bureau Veritas's mission and vision to build a world of trust. As a company devoted to making contributions to the society and the world we are living in by serving enterprises, focusing ultimately on the safety and development of all mankind (B2B2S) is Bureau Veritas's commitment to the world. With this forum, Bureau Veritas will gather the sparks of thought generated from the collision of experiences and innovation to help further promote the construction of safety culture and optimized development of enterprises.