State Councilor and Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun said China will conduct half-year inspections on the fire safety of high-rise buildings, in a bid to create a safe environment for the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Guo made the remarks on July 7 at a teleconference on fire safety of high-rise buildings, and stressed the priority of people’s lives and safety.

He urged thoroughly screening any hidden fire risks, strengthening the source control and daily management, and solving any problems in high-rise buildings with combustible thermal insulation materials and insufficient use of fire-fighting facilities.

Guo also asked for the logical layout of high-rise buildings, and improved fire-prevention technology based on big data, internet of things and cloud computing.

Local governments and related departments were urged to join efforts to improve fire prevention in high-rise buildings.