On May 21, 2026, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, together with the Ministry of Emergency Management, issued the Guidelines for Fire Safety Management of Scripted Entertainment Venues, for the first time incorporating new performance equipment such as AR immersive theaters and holographic projection stages into the scope of fire protection acceptance standards, and explicitly requiring that similar equipment exported overseas must simultaneously comply with both China’s GB 50116 and the destination country’s NFPA/EN 54 dual standards. This policy directly affects scripted entertainment equipment manufacturing, export certification, international testing, and contract manufacturing services in China, and has substantial implications for export enterprises of cultural-tourism technology equipment, cross-border testing partners, and supply chain compliance service providers.

Event Overview

On May 21, 2026, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Emergency Management jointly released the Guidelines for Fire Safety Management of Scripted Entertainment Venues. The document clearly includes new types of equipment such as AR immersive theaters and holographic projection stages within the scope of fire protection acceptance for scripted entertainment venues; it stipulates that similar equipment exported overseas must simultaneously comply with China’s national standard GB 50116 and the applicable NFPA (United States) or EN 54 (European Union) standards of the target market; this guideline has already triggered surprise audits by international testing organizations such as Germany’s TÜV and the United States’ UL on contract factories in China; suppliers in Henan’s cultural-tourism technology sector have been required to immediately initiate dual-standard compliance reviews.

Which Sub-sectors Will Be Affected

Direct Trade Enterprises

As exported equipment must simultaneously meet both GB 50116 and NFPA/EN 54 dual standards, products previously designed and declared based on only a single export standard face the risk of re-testing or technical rectification; the impact is mainly reflected in longer preparation cycles for customs declaration documents, increased uncertainty in customs clearance, and a substantial rise in target market access thresholds.

Processing and Manufacturing Enterprises

Especially for manufacturers producing AR/holographic stage equipment for overseas brands on an OEM basis, their production processes, component selection, and electrical safety design must be adapted to dual-standard requirements; surprise audits by TÜV and UL are already underway, meaning that the previous model of producing solely according to customer drawings may no longer satisfy compliance prerequisites.

Supply Chain Service Enterprises

Service providers offering export certification consulting, testing agency services, standards translation, and localized compliance support need to quickly update dual-standard comparison checklists and testing pathway guidance; some institutions that previously built their services around single-sided standards (such as EN 54 only) are facing pressure to strengthen their technical capabilities.

Channel Distribution Enterprises

Enterprises engaged in the import distribution of scripted entertainment equipment or the operation of cross-border B2B platforms need to reassess the compliance status of the equipment they sell; if the products they represent have not completed dual-standard verification, it may affect downstream theater procurement decisions and the stability of contract performance.

What Key Points Should Relevant Enterprises or Practitioners Pay Attention To, and How Should They Respond at Present

Pay Attention to Subsequent Official Wording or Policy Changes

At present, the Guidelines are management guidance rather than mandatory regulations, but they have already been used as a practical basis for fire protection acceptance; it is necessary to continuously track implementation rules, FAQ responses, and transition arrangements published on the official websites of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Emergency Management, and local cultural-tourism enforcement authorities.

Pay Attention to Changes in Key Product Categories, Key Markets, or Key Business Links

Three categories of products—AR interactive terminals, holographic imaging hosts, and immersive sound-and-light integrated systems—have been explicitly listed as the first batch of covered objects; for markets such as Germany, the United States, and the Netherlands, where TÜV/UL coordinated audit mechanisms have already been activated, export process adjustments are the most urgent; third-party type inspection before equipment leaves the factory has become the current key control point.

Distinguish Between Policy Signals and Actual Business Implementation

The guideline has not yet set a unified transition deadline, nor has it clarified penalty details; analysis suggests that its current role is more oriented toward guiding regulatory expectations rather than serving as an immediate basis for enforcement; however, the response speed of international testing organizations indicates that the market has already treated this document as a de facto compliance benchmark.

Prepare in Advance for Procurement, Supply Chain, Communication, or Contingency Plans

It is recommended to first sort out the technical documentation of existing export models and compare the differences between corresponding clauses of GB 50116 and NFPA 72/EN 54-22; establish preliminary technical communication with TÜV and UL laboratories in China; initiate dual-standard compatibility design reviews for newly launched projects; and assess whether existing orders require supplementary statements or additional test reports.

Editorial Viewpoint / Industry Observation

Observably, this guideline functions less as an immediate regulatory enforcement tool and more as a structural signal—marking the formal inclusion of immersive entertainment hardware into China’s fire safety governance framework. Analysis shows that its real-world impact stems not from legal compulsion alone, but from the rapid alignment of international certification bodies, which effectively converts administrative guidance into de facto market access criteria. From an industry perspective, it reflects a broader trend: cross-border compliance for cultural-tech equipment is shifting from ‘destination-market-only’ to ‘origin-and-destination dual verification’. Current attention should focus on how regional enforcement practices evolve—not just national-level policy text.

Conclusion: This guideline is not an isolated update to technical specifications, but an institutional extension of the governance capacity of the cultural-tourism and emergency management systems over new types of performance hardware. Its core significance lies in partially moving forward the international certification pathway, which was originally independently managed by export enterprises, into a compliance obligation at the domestic production end. At present, it is more appropriate to understand it as the starting point of a gradual compliance upgrade rather than a one-time compliance task; the industry needs to replace single-point certification thinking with a standards-coordination perspective, embedding dual-standard adaptation into the entire process of product definition and supply chain management.

Information source notes:
Main sources: the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China and the Ministry of Emergency Management jointly issued the Guidelines for Fire Safety Management of Scripted Entertainment Venues (May 21, 2026);
Parts requiring continued observation: the specific enforcement intensity of local fire rescue agencies regarding this guideline, progress on mutual recognition of dual-standard test results, and whether supporting technical white papers or transition-period operational guidance will be introduced subsequently.