Rules change for mass-event applications

Under certain conditions, organizers of mass events in Shanghai no longer have to get approval from the police for every gathering and activity, city police said on Thursday.

Previously, organizers of mass sports games, concerts, exhibitions, park festivals and job fairs featuring different activities had to have each and every activity approved by authorities, but now police can give blanket consent.

Currently, mass events with 1,000 to 5,000 participants must be reported to the police on the district level for approval, while inter-district events and those with over 5,000 participants are to be approved by the Public Order Department of Shanghai Public Security Bureau.

Jiang Xiaodong, vice head of the department, said that among 14 mass events with over 5,000 participants and 27 activities since September, six events with 19 activities got all-in-one approval. On the district level, among 91 mass events with 266 activities, 31 events with 204 activities got such approvals, he said.

“An average of six mass events are held in Shanghai every day, and the new rule significantly reduces paperwork, and eventually business costs, for organizers,” Jiang said.

Also previously organizers of mass gatherings had to get approval from the police every time the events were held, even if they were held on the same spot with the same content. But now organizers need only to get approval once a year. This rule especially benefits sports league games such as football and basketball.

At the same time, the event application process has been simplified for the organizers who now no longer have to produce certain materials for approval. Online applications are also available.

By data sharing with cultural, tourism and sports administrations, police now don’t require organizers to show approvals of the events from those administrations. Also, organizers no longer have to show technical safety certificates of the venues where events are held, as police now inspect certain large venues annually and provide official certificates for the record.

In the Pudong New Area, all popular venues for mass events including the Mercedes-Benz Arena, the Oriental Sports Center and Yuanshen Stadium have got safety certificates, and the same measure will be taken in all other parts of Shanghai, according to the police.

“This doesn’t mean that such venues could be less safe, because we have been prompting them to use the best available technical means such as the thermal diagram to monitor crowds. If intervention is necessary to keep order, the police will intervene in no time,” Jiang said. “We have also been enhancing skills of security guards at venues.”

While fewer approvals are needed, police said they will ensure that appropriate emergency response plans are made for each mass event by offering consultation to the organizers and closely following all such events.

Police also said they have reduced the time to review an approval from 17 working days to seven.

Vibrant and safe nightlife

Police are also taking measures to serve Shanghai’s “night economy.”

The traffic police said they’re carrying out efforts to make parking easier in popular haunts around the city. This includes areas around Jing'an Temple.

In the popular Wujiaochang shopping hub in Yangpu District, 251 parking slots have been created on small streets near Daxue Road.

The police have also revised the rule which required that two workers be present in 24-hour convenience stores at night. According to the new rule, fewer staff are allowed as long as technical measures to ensure safety in a store are considered sufficient.

Police said they have also cracking down on pickpockets around supermarkets, Metro stations and shopping malls at night and illegal activities in hotels and entertainment venues.