APEC meetings focus on boosting disaster resilience through innovation and cooperation

The 22nd APEC Emergency Preparedness Working Group Meeting and the 19th APEC Senior Disaster Management Officials' Forum were held this week in Dalian, Liaoning province, to strengthen disaster resilience through early warning systems and technological innovation.

Disaster management officials from across the Asia-Pacific discussed disaster early warning and early action, as well as ways to use technological innovation to improve emergency management.

Xu Jia'ai, vice-minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management, said China proposed to build a community with a shared future for disaster risk reduction in the Asia-Pacific through greater openness and to advance disaster governance through innovation.

China is ready to work with APEC member economies and the APEC Secretariat to share its experience, contribute its expertise and offer solutions, seeking to continuously improve disaster risk governance capacity across the Asia-Pacific, Xu said.

Zhang Zuqiang, deputy head of the China Meteorological Administration, said the Asia-Pacific faces frequent extreme weather and climate events and that addressing regional climate disaster risks requires greater multilateral cooperation.

China has developed an AI-powered meteorological early warning system known as MAZU, which has been piloted in several APEC economies, while China has also provided training and conducted exchanges to help strengthen regional disaster preparedness, Zhang said.

"Using MAZU as a bridge, we hope to deepen cooperation with APEC economies on multi-hazard early warning and climate adaptation," Zhang said.

He called for more balanced disaster preparedness across the region, broader applications integrating disaster prevention with other sectors, and stronger climate risk management to safeguard people's well-being and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific.