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It is nothing with health and safety standard,our standard is high and our political system is very concerned with this kind of accidents,if any accident cause more than 3 death need to report to the province government and most of our provinces have more than 50 million population,any accident cause more than 10 death need to report to the central government ,the central government usually send a team to investigate the accident and punish tens of related departments officials even they are actually not related in person,that is why many local government officials try to hide accidents because the punishment are very harsh. And it is nothing with developing country or developed country,if we take Tianjin as a country,the living standard of Tianjin can match the developed countries. The biggest problem is supervision,the normal supervision is easily affected by corruption officials or lack of technology,in a fast developing country,many peopke want to do everything to become rich quickly and make quick money,that is why we have so many bold businessmen and officials even we have very harsh law punishment,after such kind of accidents everytime,we will see lots of officals will be setenced to jail or lose their positions.
Thanks for your reply. I try to say more about the supervision and corruption in China.Yes i also mentioned that in such countries, there is still a tendency to put business/money first before safety by officials. As for corruption, i know there is huge corruption in China, however i dont know if that explains why there are so many incidents/industrial accidents in China compared to other countries. I will say you are right by saying it has more to do with how serious the government is willing to constantly/regularly IMPLEMENT/SUPERVISE its own laws/rules and regulations. Since you can have the best health and safety rules on earth , but if you dont implement and supervise them to make sure they are followed then its useless to be honest.
Sentencing those corrupt officials responsible is welcomed, but useless, since the main issue will continue as long as the government doesn't IMPLEMENT AND SUPERVISE constantly/its own laws nationwide. For example here in the west health and safety is paramount and very important as the government puts it first ahead of anything.
I once had the opportunity to work in a construction company as assistant logistic manager, the amount of health and safety rules alone we had to follow was rediculous to say the least, So many 'little' health rules we had to follow, and every week the general health and safety delegates will show up unannounced anytime, in case they saw even a little disregard of health and safery rules by our company, the company will face a warning, heavy fine and even complete shut down. Mind you that's when there was no incident whatsoever,in case that caused an accident or death, then you can figure out what happens to that company.
In short, as far people/companies think they can cut corners and still get away with it, then believe me they will do it. It doesnt matter which country they are from, constant/regular supervision/checks is paramount in making sure rules are followed.
Both Renault and Volkswagen lost >1,000 new cars, it means new car will delay 3 ~ 5x months ... a good news for China domestic automobile makers.Foreign automakers feel force of Tianjin explosions
Scenes of the damage caused by the explosions in Tianjin port. [Zhu Xingxin / China Daily]
The massive explosions in the port of Tianjin on Wednesday night destroyed thousands of imported cars that were waiting to be distributed.
As the fourth-largest port in the country and the one closest to the capital, Tianjin is an important import hub for many international vehicle manufacturers.
A dozen companies were affected by the explosions, including Volkswagen, Renault, and Toyota, and the total loss for the automakers concerned has been estimated at more than 2 billion yuan ($312.5 million). Photos from the site show row after row of burnt and damaged cars. However, there is no precise figure for the number of cars destroyed by the blasts, as access to area is still restricted for safety reasons.
Renault and Volkswagen, which suffered the most losses, according to caijing.com.cn, have made official announcements, as have FAW Toyota and Mitsubishi.
Renault announced on Thursday that about 1,500 of its cars were damaged in the blasts. Zhang Le, Renault's public relations officer told China Daily that the damaged vehicles are mainly Koleos, the company's SUV model.
Volkswagen said on Thursday that some of its cars had been damaged, but it was still trying to verify the number. Apart from Tianjin, the company also imports cars through Shanghai and Guangzhou, and it said it will make sure its dealers receive deliveries and it hopes not to inconvenience customers.
Volkswagen reportedly lost 2,748 units of imported models, such as the New Beetle, Golf and Tiguan according to 网易 on Thursday.
FAW Toyota said on Friday that both its staff and production lines were not harmed by the blasts, although the office area and the windows of its factory were damaged, as well as some of its vehicles parked outside the factory.
Mitsubishi said on Friday that about 600 units of its cars in Tianjin port may have been damaged by the blasts.
Hyundai lost 3,950 units cars, the media reported on Saturday.
Other brands, such as BMW, Lexus, and Infiniti, were also affected by the blast.
Yang Lin from Lexus public relations department said less than 1,000 units of Lexus cars were in Tianjin port at the time, but some of them had been damaged by the blasts.
According to National Business Daily on Friday, Jaguar Land Rover also had cars damaged by the explosions, but it is still counting the number.
Impact on dealers
China's auto industry has been experiencing slower growth year, and the Tianjin explosions have added to the pressure on dealers. According to the China Automobile Dealers Association, the vehicle inventory alert index has been above the alert level for months. In July, the inventory was 53.4 percent, above the alert level of 50 percent.
"This worsens the already grave situation. It is not easy to sell cars now. The whole market is not good. And the situation for dealers is unstable," said a senior employee from a dealership deeply affected by the blasts, who prefered to be unnamed and did not want title and company published.
According to this person, at present no one knows whether the cars destroyed in Tianjin are the manufacturers or ones the dealer had already paid for, and the dealership may not necessarily be able to get the full amount of insurance compensation, because the cars are insured by the vehicle producers, not them.
"If the insurance company doesn't give total compensation, we will have to hope the automaker offers some subsidies. If the automaker doesn't give subsidies, we will have to bear it ourselves," the person said.
Some comments by other automakers
As well as those companies that have made official announcements, other automakers gave comments to China Daily:
Mercedes: "No staff dead or injured."
BMW: "Our sympathies are with those people affected by the situation in Tianjin. Our local Vehicle Distribution Centre, which comprises two buildings, was affected by the explosion and both buildings have sustained damage. The condition of the BMW Group vehicles stored at the VDC is not yet known as the area is currently not accessible. All of our employees were evacuated and are safe. We will keep you updated on the situation."
Audi: "Not affected by the blasts."
Lexus: "No staff dead or injured. We have less than 1,000 cars in Tianjin. Probably not many cars were affected as they were parked at different locations. We don't know the exact number of damaged cars as the area is not accessible for safety reasons."
Infiniti: "More than 20 cars were damaged."