National Fire and Rescue Administration inaugurated in Beijing

The National Fire and Rescue Administration was formally inaugurated in Beijing on Friday and Wang Xiangxi, minister of emergency management, has been appointed as its first political commissar, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

Chuangsai, former director of the ministry's fire and rescue department, now works as head of the new government body. Like many members of the Tibetan ethnic group, Chuangsai only uses one name.

Xu Ping, former director of the ministry's forest fire service department, has been nominated as the administration's political commissar.

Previously, firefighters were under the administration of the country's Ministry of Public Security. Meanwhile, there were also firefighters, in China, dedicated to forest fire control with the Chinese People's Armed Police Force.

During the country's latest institutional reshuffle in 2018, 13 responsibilities from 11 government bodies, mostly related to disaster relief, were shifted to the newly established Ministry of Emergency Management.

As part of the reshuffle, all firefighters, the number of which stood at about 200,000 back then, were transferred to the new ministry.