Police streamline mass-event application

UNDER certain conditions, organizers of mass events in Shanghai no longer have to get approval from the police for every gathering and activity, city police said yesterday.

Previously, organizers of mass sports games, concerts, exhibitions, park festivals and job fairs featuring different activities had to have each and every activity approved by authorities, but now police can give blanket consent.

Jiang Xiaodong, vice head of the Public Order Department of Shanghai Public Security

Bureau, said that among 14 mass events with over 5,000 participants and 27 activities since September, six events with 19 activities got all-in-one approval.

For those with 1,000 to 5,000 participants, among 93 mass events with 266 activities, 31 events with 204 activities got such approvals, he said.

“An average of six mass events are held in Shanghai every day, and the new rule significantly reduces paperwork, and eventually business costs, for organizers,” Jiang said.

Also previously organizers of mass gatherings had to get approval from the police every time the events were held, even if they were held on the same spot with the same content. But now organizers need only to get approval once a year. This rule especially benefits sports league games such as football and basketball.

At the same time, the event application process has been simplified for organizers who now no longer have to produce certain materials for approval. Online applications are also available.

By data sharing with cultural, tourism and sports administrations, police now don’t require organizers to show approvals of the events from those administrations. Also, organizers no longer have to show technical safety certificates of the venues where events are held, as police now inspect certain large venues annually and provide official certificates for the record.

In the Pudong New Area, all popular venues for mass events, including the Mercedes-Benz Arena, the Oriental Sports Center and Yuanshen Stadium, have got safety certificates, and the same measure will be taken in all other parts of Shanghai, according to the police.

“This doesn’t mean that such venues could be less safe, because we have been prompting them to use the best available technical means such as the thermal diagram to monitor crowds. If intervention is necessary to keep order, the police will intervene in no time,” Jiang said. “We have also been enhancing skills of security guards at venues.”

While fewer approvals are needed, police said they will ensure that appropriate emergency response plans are made for each mass event.

Police have also reduced the time to review an approval from 17 working days to seven.