China Rulers Must Minimize Accidents Or Lose Trust, Xinhua Says

The failure of China’s government to minimize deadly man-made road accidents may “in the worst case scenario” cause it to lose the people’s trust, the state- owned Xinhua News Agency said in a report today.

The report cited a series of fatal accidents that happened across China this month, including a tanker truck collision that killed 36 passengers in Shaanxi province, and the collapse of a new bridge collapsed in Heilongjiang province, which killed three people and injured five others.

“For much of the general public, the more fatal accidents occur, the greater the government’s credibility is undermined,” Xinhua said in the report.

This “may prove to be the biggest challenge” for the ruling Communist Party of China when it meets for a national congress later this year to chart the future of the Party and the country, Xinhua said.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Daryl Loo in Beijing at dloo7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nicholas Wadhams at nwadhams@bloomberg.net