BEIJING, May 30 -- China has registered an increase in emergency rescue operations so far this year, according to a press conference held Thursday.

As of May 20, a total of 864,000 such operations were conducted nationwide, up 5.2 percent from a year earlier, said Li Wanfeng, a spokesperson of the National Fire and Rescue Administration (NFRA), adding that a total of 131,000 people were rescued or relocated in these operations.

Fires were the most common type of emergency, constituting over half of all accidents during the period, with the eastern regions of China being the most affected by such accidents.

The southern parts of the country were particularly impacted by natural disasters involving strong convective weather, such as thunderstorms, floods and landslides, the spokesperson said.

The NFRA was established in January 2023, merging the fire rescue and forest firefighting departments under the Ministry of Emergency Management.

Its duties include formulating relevant laws and regulations, organizing fire rescue forces, and providing instructions for various types of emergency rescue operations.