The law will impose fines of between 50,000 yuan (6,250 US dollars) and 100,000 yuan on Chinese and foreign journalists whose inaccurate reporting about emergency incidents leads to "serious consequences," the government said at a news briefing.

Those incidents included natural disasters, accidents, public health hazards as well as national security incidents such as riots or large demonstrations, an official said at the briefing held by China's cabinet, the State Council.

Wang Yongqing, vice minister of the State Council's legislative affairs office, emphasized only false reporting that led to serious consequences would be punishable, but gave no further explanation.

"On the one hand, journalists and media organizations have worked very hard to contribute to covering contingencies, but I must say that some individual journalists have filed wrong reports or even fabricated facts," Wang said.

The draft legislation was being deliberated by the standing committee of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, and was expected to be adopted this year, Wang said.

The law would also require governments from all levels involved in dealing with emergencies to release timely and accurate information, which Wang insisted was the main purpose of the legislation.

The legislation comes as Chinese authorities are increasingly concerned about social unrest, due to growing confrontations between farmers and others with local governments over land disputes and corruption.

The past few years have also seen increasingly aggressive reporting by Chinese media, which are pushing state-imposed controls partly due to an increasing need to compete for readership and advertising revenue.

Media rights advocates and journalists fear the law could lead to even greater pressure to self-censor by Chinese journalists who are closely monitored by state authorities.

"Chinese media are very concerned about this," said a Chinese journalist who attended the press conference and requested anonymity.

"At issue is what is considered the truth by the government and who gets to determine what is the truth? Sometimes it takes years for the truth to come out."

The proposed law stipulates the government be the first to announce a major animal epidemic, and forbids the media from reporting predictions of earthquakes without authorization.

However in its handling of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, the government came under fierce international criticism for covering up a major outbreak for months.

The public learned about it only after an army doctor blew the whistle and told foreign media.

The international press watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, condemned the proposed law, saying it was aimed at tightening an already harsh censorship regime and pointing to the SARS cover-up as proof a free media was necessary.

"The government views the media as enemies in the struggle against epidemics, accidents and natural catastrophes," the Paris-based group said in a statement on its website.

"But lives would have undoubtedly been saved if the media had been free during the SARS crisis in 2003."

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