The huge chemical explosion at the Chinese port of Tianjin on 12 August is another in the country's long list of industrial accidents involving chemicals. In 2010–14, more than 2,000 people were killed in 326 such accidents (J. Ren and Y. Mu Chem. Enterp. Manag. 16, 28–31; 2015; in Chinese), calling into question the adequacy and enforcement of national regulations for the safe management of hazardous chemicals.

China needs better legislation and more detailed regulations for controlling risk at different stages in the life cycle of hazardous chemicals. Safety supervision must be made more effective, for example by drawing up regulations modelled on the European Union's Seveso Directive for industrial accidents (see go.nature.com/zyjp85). Supervision is currently disorderly, overseen by a fragmented and overlapping structure of multiple agencies, including the State Administration of Work Safety and the ministries of transport, public security, environmental protection, agriculture and health.

Effective enforcement of China's safety management of hazardous chemicals may be foiled by the limited expertise of company front-line managers (M. Liu et al. Contemp. Chem. Ind. 43, 2661–2662; 2014; in Chinese). More data are needed on the nature, handling and storage of the chemicals themselves so that risks can be properly assessed and managed (see go.nature.com/bzsydq).