China Tightens Sale of Firecrackers After Explosion Kills 20 People

The Ditan Temple Festival in Beijing's Dongcheng district (ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government has tightened regulations on the sale of firecrackers after two explosions in a week that killed 20 people in Jiangsu and Hubei provinces during the Chinese New Year holidays.

The Labor Safety Commission and the Ministry of Emergency Management in a written release issued on Friday, February 20, issued "five prohibitions and three obligations" to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The ban includes a ban on opening a firecracker store in a residential home, storing firecrackers beyond the limit, placing firecrackers outside the store, testing or lighting firecrackers within a radius of 100 meters from the store, and lighting firecrackers in prohibited areas and places with crowds.

Meanwhile, three obligations regulate the necessity of assigning special officers to guard at shopping locations, controlling the number of people entering the store, and installing warning posters "five prohibitions".

Previously on Sunday (15/2) there was an explosion in Donghai County, Jiangsu Province which killed eight people and two people were lightly burned and followed by another explosion on Wednesday (18/2) in Yicheng City, Hubei Province which killed 12 people including business owners and five minors.

The results of the investigation revealed five factors that caused the explosion, such as lack of supervision, less strict business permit process, loose crowd management, violations of rules such as placing firecrackers and selling firecrackers that do not meet standards, and the delivery of accident warning information by local governments. less optimal.

Chinese authorities have asked all regions to learn from the two explosions and encourage preventive measures to ensure safety and social order during the Lunar New Year holidays.

In addition, the emergency management department at the provincial, city, and district levels is requested to form an inspection team to conduct a thorough inspection at every fireworks store and storage warehouse, especially those located in densely populated areas.

For people in China, lighting firecrackers is part of the Chinese New Year celebration to drive away evil spirits, welcome good luck, and mark the beginning of a prosperous new year.

A number of major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin have banned their citizens from lighting firecrackers in the city center, including during the Chinese New Year period, with attention to public safety.

In Beijing, violations of this rule will be subject to fines of 100-500 RMB (Rp244 thousand to Rp1.2 million) for individual violators and 1,000-30,000 RMB (Rp2.4 million to Rp73 million) for violating organizations, while whistleblowers will receive a number of rewards.

The rules on firecrackers in China are fluctuating and depend on the respective local governments. In 2025, Shanxi province lifted a blanket ban on firecrackers and fireworks, which sparked a public debate.