China's fire protection infrastructure is still inadequate, said a spokesman with the Ministry of Public Security Tuesday, commenting on the relevance of a new State Council notice on stepping up fire protection.

He said the notice came forth as China is now facing pressing challenges of fire protection, pointing out lack of fire protection facilities, personnel and public awareness.

The spokesman said China still lags behind in fire protection infrastructure, including fire stations, firefighting water supply and fire lanes. Fire stations and extinguishers are insufficient in cities and meager in the countryside.

In addition, 167 county-level localities do not have fire departments, and 292 localities of the same level lack professional firefighting forces. The existing fire departments are usually understaffed.

Moreover, the spokesman called for raising public awareness of fire protection, saying migrant workers, elderly people and children in rural areas, in particular, lack fire safety know-how, and welders lack vocational training.

A total of 793,000 fire accidents happened from 2006 to 2010, leaving 7,202 dead and 4,501 injured, according to official statistics.

The State Council notice was published Monday, which stipulated tougher accountability measures in handling fire accidents.