On the morning of January 14, a conference to review a major fire that occurred in GEM's industrial park in Taixing was held simultaneously in the Taixing Industrial Park as the main venue and 16 other industrial parks. Production was suspended in all the industrial parks during the conference to allow nearly 10,000 employees to participate in the sincere reflection together. The conference marked that the GEM people will never forget the "January 7th" Fire, make all possible efforts to eliminate potential safety accidents after the company-wide review, and work to write a new chapter on the "safety correction, green transformation, and high-quality development" in all the industrial parks of GEM!

Prof. Xu Kaihua, Board Chairman of GEM, led a team of more than 100 people, including members of GEM’s top management as well as the general managers, deputy general managers for production, and leaders of safety and environmental protection from the main industrial parks, to visit the scene of the fire shortly before the conference. Everyone was shocked at the scene!

At the conference, the participants watched footage that reproduced the fire and rescue process: On January 7, 2023, a fire outbroke in the copper manganese comprehensive recovery and purification workshop, an auxiliary process for manufacturing cobalt products in GEM's Taixing Industrial Park; the local fire department rushed to the scene and carried out rescue and firefighting effectively; in the meantime, GEM immediately activated its emergency plan and set up an on-site emergency response leading group to cooperate with the fire department's efforts. The fire caused no casualties; the core process and other core equipment for manufacturing cobalt products, the primary products of GEM's Industrial Taixing Park, were not affected; on-site environment monitoring data showed that the air indicators were within their normal ranges. As of January 14, the company had properly disposed of the fire-affected materials to prevent secondary pollution to the environment and quickly met the requirements for "avoiding pollutants leaking into the environment, preventing any secondary disaster, cleaning up the site promptly, and resuming work and production as soon as possible." On January 17, the Taixing Municipal Government issued the Opinions on Closing Environmental Emergency Response to Fire Accident at GEM (Jiangsu), suggesting closing the environmental emergency response as the air and river water quality had reached the standard values and remained stable, and the environmental risks caused by the fire at GEM (Jiangsu) had been eliminated.

At the conference reviewing the fire, 16 representatives, including witnesses of the accident in the Taixing Industrial Park and relevant persons responsible for the accident shared their profound reflections, reexamined the deficiencies exposed by the accident, and wowed to enhance their awareness of fire safety, resolutely implement the GEM's safety concept that "Life is of paramount importance. Never work under unsafe conditions!" and take precautions to safeguard production.

At the conference, Chairman Xu Kaihua first expressed heartfelt gratitude to the public for their care and concern and thanked the CPC committees and governments of Jiangsu Province, Taizhou Municipality, and Taixing City and authorities of the Taixing Economic Development Zone and government officials for their strong support. Chairman Xu Kaihua especially thanked the Fire Rescue Corps of Jiangsu Province and the firefighters for their brave and tireless firefighting efforts! The thanks also went to more than 30 companies for their urgent and selfless assistance! It was the care and attention of the public and friends around the world that gave courage to the Taixing Industrial Park to win the battle against the fire.

Professor Xu Kaihua, Board Chairman of GEM, and Ms. Wang Min, Co-founder and Director of GEM, rushed to Taixing at night upon hearing of the accident. At the same time, they directed the Group's safety and environmental forces to quickly arrive at the scene. On January 8, the whole Taixing Industrial Park was closed to "avoid pollutants leaking into the environment, prevent any secondary disaster, clean up the site promptly, and resume work and production as soon as possible."

While being engaged in the fire response in the Taixing Industrial Park, Chairman Xu Kaihua gave urgent instructions to the Group, requiring all subsidiaries and branches to examine the availability of appropriate fire extinguishing substances for various hazard sources, inflammable and explosive materials, hot work, aerial work, confined space work, and other operations, maintain sufficient fire extinguishing substances, and eliminate all potential safety hazards. All the industrial parks of GEM took prompt corrective actions for safety. From January 7 to 19, the 16 industrial parks carried out self-inspection and self-correction by departments and company-level special inspections for safety remediation, clarified the roles responsible for workplace safety, firmly maintained the line for safe production, and carried out fire drills for all employees to improve their capabilities in firefighting and self-rescue.

At the conference, Chairman Xu Kaihua reiterated the eight reflections and three requirements for the GEM's corrective actions. Chairman Xu Kaihua took the lead by examining the cruel aftermaths and analyzed the severe deficiencies in eight aspects, namely safety awareness, safety supervision, safety incident reporting, safety measures, hazard source control, hot work, construction management, planning and design, and emergency response and rescue. Chairman Xu Kaihua required that all GEM employees and industrial parks must implement the corrective actions on an unprecedented scale in the GEM's history, quickly remedy deficiencies, kick off the "safety rectification and green transformation" campaign, resolutely protect the life safety of all employees, protect the GEM's property and shareholders' interests, and safeguard the GEM's innovations and achievements in the green industry for more than 20 years. Chairman Xu Kaihua gave specific requirements for the rectification.

First, changes to the mindset. All employees should establish correct fundamental ideas about safety. Enhance safety awareness; improve the leadership organization and rules and endow the safety supervision departments with the ability and power; set up specialized fire brigades equipped with fire engines, carry out drills participated in by all employees based on work shifts, and improve the emergency response capabilities of all front-line employees; emphasize the roles responsible for safety at the three levels of "park, workshop, and shift".

Second, corrective actions related to facilities. Improve alarm facilities, provide alarm facilities for all hazard sources, establish the command system of the central control center, and designate officers on duty; improve fire-fighting facilities, set up fire stations, and provide various fire-fighting facilities and equipment to address the characteristics of different materials; improve coordinated facilities and establish cooperation with local construction operation teams, sand plants, and cement plants to ensure strong and timely support in case of incidents.

Third, corrective actions in supervision. Keep hazard sources under absolute control; impose compulsory supervision of hot work, prevent hot work in hazardous areas, and implement the compulsory triple supervision system consisting of "safety supervisor of the owner, safety supervisor of the construction contractor, and safety supervisor of the supervision authority" for hot work; improve fire protection measures throughout production processes; impose compulsory supervision of construction. Supervise operations throughout construction, set up the system of safety supervisor for construction, implement clearance procedures for each shift at construction sites, and ensure that fire extinguishing means are in place.

Fourth, design optimization. Correct process materials and cable trays, avoid the improper use of plastic pipes, and reduce unnecessary plastic containers; renew design to "separate dangerous substances from non-dangerous substances, precious substances from general substances, dry substances from substances", and provide appropriate and separate fire protection measures for different types of substances.

Fifth, safety training improvement. Carry out personalized drills involving different response methods adapted to the characteristics of different processes and materials to comprehensively improve the rescue ability of front-line employees and the overall emergency response and rescue ability of the company.

The conference marked that the GEM people work to write a new chapter on the "safety correction, green transformation, and high-quality development" in all the industrial parks of GEM! The GEM people are solved to safeguard the GEM's growth into a world-leading green industry business by "learning lessons of the "January 7th" fire, reviewing and correcting deficiencies, remaining alert to the possibility of danger, focusing on safety requirements, preventing potential accidents, and insisting on the value of ESG.

The main venue of the Fire Accident Review Conference at GEM's Taixing Industrial Park

The venues of the Fire Accident Review Conference at GEM's Jingmen Industrial Park and Wuxi Industrial Park

The venues of the Fire Accident Review Conference at GEM's Wuhan Industrial Park and Fu'an QM Industrial Park

The venues of the Fire Accident Review Conference at GER's Jiangxi Industrial Park and Inner Mongolia Industrial Park

The venues of the Fire Accident Review Conference at the Jingmen Industrial Park of Urban Mining Group and GEM’s Hubei New Energy

Safety inspection at GEM's headquarters in Shenzhen and Jingmen Industrial Park

Safety inspection at GEM's Wuhan Industrial Park and Fu'an QM Industrial Park

Safety inspection at GEM's Hubei New Energy and Hunan Industrial Park

Safety inspection at GER's Henan Industrial Park and the Jingmen Industrial Park of Urban Mining Group

Fire emergency response drills at GEM's Jingmen Industrial Park and Taixing Industrial Park

Fire emergency response drills and training at GEM's Wuhan Industrial Park and Indonesia QMB Industrial Park