Fire trucks spray water to cool down the accident site after a fire broke out at a shoe factory in Jinjiang City, Fujian Province in Eastern China on July 9, 2026, leaving heavy casualties. Photo: Xinhua

Following a deadly fire at a footwear factory in Jinjiang, Quanzhou, East China's Fujian Province, on Thursday that left 28 people dead, multiple enterprises in the footwear manufacturing hub have intensified safety inspections. Local authorities said the campaign targets labor-intensive industries, including footwear, textiles and luggage, to identify and eliminate safety risks.

The Jinjiang local authority told the Global Times on Saturday that multiple enterprises have stepped up safety checks. The campaign targets industrial clusters in footwear, textiles and luggage manufacturing, with inspections focusing on fire safety facilities, electrical systems and evacuation passages to identify risks and ensure companies fulfill their safety responsibilities.

Liu Yongcheng, who oversees investment promotion and operations at Jinjiang International Shoe & Textile City's management company, told the Global Times on Saturday that the market has maintained regular safety management measures. Following a citywide safety inspection campaign, the market has further strengthened risk checks, focusing on issues such as blocked public passages, items stored in stairwells and electrical safety.

"The recent campaign has mainly focused on strengthening inspections," Liu said. He added that the checks have not affected normal business operations, but have instead raised merchants' safety awareness and encouraged more compliant practices.

A local employee at a footwear factory in Jinjiang told the Global Times on Douyin that the company he worked for has carried out continuous fire safety checks over the past two days, including inspections of firefighting equipment and checks for unauthorized electrical wiring. "Production has not been affected. The inspections are mainly aimed at ensuring safety," the employee said.

The Global Times also reviewed discussions from Fujian-based users on Douyin, where some said footwear factories had devoted more efforts on safety rectification. Others said inspections had extended to workers' dormitories and surrounding areas, with some factories even clearing parking areas and increasing waste collection efforts. Some users in Putian, another city of Fujian Province which is also known for footwear industry, also said local fire departments had carried out inspections, including requirements to keep areas within one meter of fire extinguishers clear.

Jiayulong Footwear, based in Putian, has also carried out a blanket fire safety inspection to identify potential risks and strengthen safety measures, according to a WeChat post published by the company on Friday.

Qiu Chaoyang, director of the Quanzhou emergency management bureau, said the emergency management authorities will continue to strengthen risk assessments and safety inspections, tighten companies' responsibilities for workplace safety, and cooperate with higher-level authorities in investigating the accident to identify the causes and determine accountability, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by the Jinjiang local authority.

Qiu said authorities will draw lessons from the incident and carry out comprehensive safety inspections and rectification efforts across the city, while strengthening safety training and warnings, cracking down on violations, and regularly conducting emergency drills to prevent similar accidents.

A shoe factory in Chendai Township, Jinjiang, caught fire on Thursday, leaving 28 people dead. The Office of the Work Safety Commission under China's State Council has decided that it will oversee the investigation into this accident, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Saturday.

The Commission has urged Fujian Province to identify the cause of the fire and management failures as soon as possible, determine the nature of the incident and clarify responsibilities, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Jinjiang is one of China's leading footwear manufacturing hubs and the world's production base for sports shoes. According to official records, Jinjiang's footwear and apparel industry generated an annual output value exceeding 250 billion yuan ($36.74 billion) in 2024, with annual sports shoe production surpassing 1.2 billion pairs — accounting for 20 percent of global output.

Following the fire, multiple areas in Fujian launched comprehensive safety inspections at enterprises, covering key sites such as production workshops, warehouses and power distribution areas. Inspectors checked potential hazards, including the condition of fire extinguishers, emergency lighting and evacuation signs, as well as blocked exits, fire passages, electrical wiring and safety protections for machinery, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The Office of the Work Safety Commission under China's State Council is currently working with the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and other relevant departments to carry out a nationwide campaign against illegal activities and violations in workplace safety, Xinhua reported.

The campaign focuses on key sectors including mining, chemicals, fire safety and industrial and trade enterprises, targeting common problems such as failure to meet required safety qualifications or conditions, falsification of safety records, malicious violations, forced unsafe operations and risky work practices.

Enterprises in sectors including textiles, packaging, warehousing and furniture manufacturing in East China's Anhui and Central China's Henan provinces have actively conducted self-inspections on workplace safety. They have organized internal fire safety checks, including inspections of firefighting equipment, removal of flammable materials from evacuation routes, checks on whether emergency exits are blocked, and comprehensive efforts to identify and rectify potential safety hazards.