A single phone line - 110 - will handle all calls for police, fire and traffic accident emergencies from June.

Shenzhen police released details of the new arrangements during a citywide campaign Monday to enhance awareness of public security.

The 110 emergency line is now only for police calls. Fire emergencies are reported to 119 while traffic accidents are reported to 122. From June, all emergencies must be reported to 110, police said.

The municipal public security bureau would establish a new control center, in which all emergency calls would be passed on to police, fire stations or traffic police.

The new control center would be equipped with the GPS (global positioning system) monitors to pinpoint the location of emergencies, police said.

Line 110 was launched in August 1997 and had been expanded to take 20 calls at once, according to a Daily Sunshine report.

However, 15 percent of the calls to 110 were not for emergencies, said Zhang Zhengao, an official at the control center. He said most calls, about 50 percent, were simply inquiries and only 15 percent were for emergencies.

People who make huge numbers of non-urgent calls on purpose could be detained for seven to 15 days, said Zhang.

(Shenzhen Daily January 12, 2005)