BEIJING, July 28 (Xinhua) -- China's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, says China should say no to a "blood-smeared GDP," while commenting on the fatal bullet train crash.
The commentary, titled "Safety must come first during China's development," says the tragic accident sends notice to the nation that people's lives should be the top priority, and safe production never allows a sit back and relax mentality.
The commentary, in Thursday's newspaper, emphasizes that safe production has direct bearing on people's lives and property, the country's reform, its development and stability, and the image and reputation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government.
"Safe production cannot be over-emphasized," according to the paper.
However, recently there have been frequent production accidents in mines, on the country's roads and even the collapse of a bridge -- all of which inflicted grave losses on the people and reveal systemic and managerial loopholes, as well as faint safety awareness in certain regions, sectors and organizations.
"We should bear in mind that all the efforts put into construction and development serve an ultimate end: a better life for the people. Although development is the overarching goal of China, it should not come at a reckless price, nor be practiced by a handful of people as if it overrides everything," says the paper.
It is imperative to uphold the "people first" concept and avoid obsessively chasing after a higher speed of development, or even "choosing money over people's lives," the commentary states.
Rather, the idea of "people's lives -- above all," should prevail throughout the entire chain of production, operation and management, according to the commentary.
Further, the paper points out that China currently has numerous construction projects underway, which builds up pressure on safety supervision and safe production. The paper calls on all sectors to draw lessons from the train crash tragedy so that major accidents do not repeat.
Additionally, the paper urges a safety overhaul be carried out in the transportation, mining, chemical, and construction industries to thwart safety hazards.
The commentary calls upon the entire society to rally together to "forcefully win the fierce battle of safe production."
At least 39 people died and 192 others were injured in Saturday's high-speed train crash near the city of Wenzhou in east Zhejiang Province. The train D301 rear-ended D3115, which stalled after losing power due to a lightning strike.