Experts Thursday called for the introduction of emergency management mechanisms for sustainable development programs guiding national economic and social progress.

Governments at all levels should increase efforts to improve laws and regulations to better cope with extraordinary emergencies, said Zhang Chengfu, a top research fellow in the area, at the first China International Forum on Government Emergency Management, which concludes today.

Extraordinary emergencies refer to both natural disasters and those caused by human activities, according to US-based Northern Illinois University professor Donald C. Menzel, such as the outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) this spring and the terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2001.

Statistics indicate that from 1996 to 2000, a variety of disastrous emergencies caused economic losses estimated at US$235 billion, and left 425,000 casualties in their wake around the world.

However, emergencies can also be used as an impetus and catalyst to further social progress if concerned government cope rationally and directly, even though such emergencies almost always wreak havoc in politics and the economy.

For example, the Chinese people's triumph over SARS this year revealed a great improvement in handling and overcoming a serious emergency.

?(China Daily December 5, 2003)