New Year fireworks take heavy toll

• Source: Global Times
• [02:02 February 20 2010]
• Comments

"Those regulations can't help eliminate injuries and deaths. The government could make fireworks safer with the use of technology," he said.

Beijing banned public fireworks in 1993 due to a rise in accidents. More than 280 cities including Shanghai and Guangzhou enacted similar bans.

However, the ban angered those who believe that, without fireworks, the Chinese New Year would lose its identity.

There are also economic reasons. China is the world's largest firework manufacturer and exporter, with thousands of firework companies, including numerous illegal ones, employing millions of workers and producing 45 million boxes of fireworks each year, 40 percent of which are exported.

Hunan is the largest firework-producing province in China, with more than 2,000 companies employing 500,000 people and generating 5 billion yuan in annual sales.

Xing Dingyin, sales manager with the Beijing branch of the Liuyang-based Panda Fireworks, told the Global Times that humans are to be blamed for the casualties rather than the fireworks themselves.

"Consumers always expect fireworks to provide wonderful displays, but sometimes they buy them some from unlicensed stores," he said.

Guo Qiang contributed to this story