Shanghai's mayor says the city has acknowledged its "guilt and responsibility" for the New Year's Eve stampede that killed 36 people.

Speaking to the Municipal People's Congress in his annual work report, mayor Yang Xiong said the city is determined to strengthen public safety.

He Said, "The New Year's Eve stampede was a terrible failure in public safety that caused untold pain for the families of the injured and departed. Shanghai as a whole has been deeply affected by the tragedy and has been taught a bitter lesson. We share people's grief and acknowledge guilt and responsibility. The New Year's Eve incident has exposed critical neglect and hazards in Shanghai's safety infrastructure. Some government officials in leading positions in certain districts and departments were slow to react and had little sense of the precautions necessary to ensure public safety, especially for events requiring crowd control."

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