Current Status, Challenges, and Future Pathways of Chemical Industrial Park Safety in China

China is currently the largest producer of chemicals in the world, through its chemical industrial parks (CIPs) scattered across the country. In recent years, the Chinese government has issued a series of laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines, highlighting its commitment to improving CIP safety. However, the increasing number of severe and higher-level chemical accidents (SHLCAs) occurring in China's CIPs has become a major problem for CIP safety. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the current challenges and future needs of CIP safety in China by systematically investigating its current status. This paper first analyzes the origin, evolution, and current status of CIPs in China. Second, based on the collected investigation reports of SHLCAs that occurred in Chinese CIPs in 2011–2022, the characteristics and causes of 90 SHLCAs are analyzed in detail. Third, the national laws, regulations, standards, and guidelines closely related to CIP safety in China since 2011 are also analyzed. Finally, a safety assessment of 100 representative CIPs is conducted to identify the common problems faced by the current safety improvement of China's CIPs. Based on the research findings, the challenges CIP safety faces in China are systematically analyzed, and possible future pathways to improve CIP safety are discussed based on the following resilience capabilities: absorption (including resistance and mitigation), adaptation, restoration, and learning capability. This study provides not only basic data and information for future studies on CIP safety, but also presents valuable insights for the improvement of CIP safety in other countries.