Chinese lawmakers reviewed reports on the implementation of the laws on work and traffic safety.

The reports were submitted for review on December 21 at the bi-monthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

According to the work safety report, accidents at work dropped from just over a million in 2002 to less than 300,000 in 2015, with casualties in the same period reduced by more than half from 139,000 to 66,000.

During a panel discussion, Chen Changzhi, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, stressed public work safety awareness should be strengthened, adding that businesses must attach greater importance to work safety instead of only focusing on profits.

Legislator Linghu An called for tougher punishments for people who violate operating or managing regulations.

Figures provided in the report on traffic safety showed that the number of motor vehicles in China had nearly tripled in the past decade, but there were only 188,000 traffic accidents last year, compared with 518,000 accidents in 2004.

Traffic safety education among the public, especially the drivers, should be further improved, said legislator He Yehui during a deliberation.

(Xinhua News Agency December 22, 2016)