China Proposes New Safety Standards for Amusement Park Rides
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released a draft revision of the mandatory national safety standard for large amusement park rides on July 23, 2026, opening it for public consultation. The proposed “Safety Requirements for Large Amusement Facilities” marks the first major update since the current standard was formulated in 2018 and comes in response to rapid industry growth, high-profile accidents, and the need to align with international safety benchmarks.
Context: A Booming Industry Under Scrutiny
As of the end of 2025, China had 25,800 large amusement rides in operation across over 2,000 parks, carrying more than 100 million passengers annually, according to CCTV News. The existing safety specification (GB 8408-2018) was formulated in 2018 and has been outpaced by the industry’s rapid evolution toward larger, more complex, and technologically sophisticated rides.
The revision was directly informed by recent accident investigations. The most significant incident was the October 2023 Shenzhen Happy Valley roller coaster collision, which hospitalized 28 people. An investigation found that bolt fatigue fracture caused brake failure, and the operating company was cited for weak safety awareness and inadequate maintenance. A second high-profile incident in February 2024 saw a diver drown at Zhengzhou Haichang Ocean Park, with witnesses reporting a delayed emergency response of approximately 15 minutes.
As China News Service reported, the draft “draws lessons from recent large amusement facility accidents, systematically reviews operational pain points nationwide, and benchmarks against international advanced safety standards.”
Key Technical Changes in the New Standard
The draft standard covers the full lifecycle of amusement rides — materials, design, manufacturing, installation, and use — as a mandatory national requirement. Several significant technical additions stand out:
Design Service Life: Major components must now have clearly defined design service lives, with mandatory replacement or inspection and repair upon expiration. This directly addresses the issue of aging equipment operating beyond safe limits.
Weld Classification and Testing: Structural weld grading requirements have been optimized. All welds critical to passenger safety must undergo comprehensive calculation and non-destructive testing, addressing a key failure point identified in accident investigations.
Carbon Fiber Composites: For the first time, the standard includes technical requirements for carbon fiber composite materials, filling a regulatory gap as the industry increasingly adopts lightweight, high-strength materials.
Real-time Monitoring: High-risk rides or those with accident histories must implement real-time operational status monitoring, with immediate shutdown when risks are detected. This represents a shift toward proactive, data-driven safety management.
Acceleration Standards: Roller coaster and thrill ride acceleration requirements have been optimized through detailed comparison with international standards, including specific consideration of children’s tolerance levels.
Expert Perspective
Du Xiaoguang (杜晓光), Deputy Director of the Elevator, Ropeway and Amusement Facilities Division at SAMR’s Special Equipment Bureau, explained the rationale behind the new requirements in an interview with CCTV News:
“As the industry continuously adopts new materials, some large amusement facilities have begun using new lightweight, high-strength composite materials. We have specifically added technical requirements for carbon fiber composite materials, filling a technical gap.”
On monitoring requirements, Du stated: “For rides with relatively high danger, high potential risk, or those that have had accidents, where risk assessment deems it necessary, we require appropriate operational status monitoring measures to be implemented, enabling real-time perception of equipment operating status. When there is a possibility of risk, operations must be stopped immediately.”
He also emphasized the importance of design-stage safety: “For manufacturers, attention must be paid to intrinsic safety requirements in the design and manufacturing of large amusement facilities, such as weld classification, classification of main load-bearing components, and acceleration limits, to enhance the intrinsic safety level of equipment.”
Industry and Economic Implications
The new standards arrive at a time when China’s amusement equipment industry covers 13 categories of rides and is expanding into overseas markets. The revision explicitly benchmarks against European and North American standards, which have undergone faster iteration cycles. This alignment could boost the competitiveness of Chinese amusement equipment manufacturers in global markets.
However, compliance costs are expected to rise. Smaller operators with limited resources may struggle to meet the new requirements, potentially accelerating market consolidation. Background reporting from the 21st Century Business Herald has highlighted the tension between safety investment and profitability, noting that operators like OCT (Shenzhen Happy Valley’s parent company) reported significant losses in 2023, while major international parks like Shanghai Disneyland invest heavily in maintenance under the “replace one-third, update one-third, maintain one-third” principle.
What’s Next
The draft standard is currently open for public consultation. SAMR aims to finalize and publish the official standard by the end of 2026. Once adopted, local market regulation bureaus across China’s provinces will be responsible for enforcement, and existing rides will need to comply within a transition period yet to be announced.
The revision represents a significant step forward in China’s approach to amusement ride safety, moving from reactive measures to proactive, data-driven regulation. For the more than 100 million annual passengers riding China’s amusement facilities, the new standards promise a safer experience — but their effectiveness will ultimately depend on rigorous enforcement across the country’s diverse regulatory landscape.