The National Key Laboratory for Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation was officially approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in April 2023. It was re-established by restructuring the National Key Laboratory for Civil Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, which was originally founded in 1988. The overall objective is to address the significant strategic needs of the country, such as disaster prevention and mitigation, resilient cities, and the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as international cutting-edge technology in the field of civil engineering disaster prevention and mitigation.

Prof Hehua Zhu is now the Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the Distinguished Professor in Geotechnical Engineering at Tongji University, and Director of the Engineering Research Center of Information Technology in Civil Engineering of the Ministry of Education of China. With the newly elected role, he will lead the lab to conduct research on structural performance evolution and lifelong disaster prevention, comprehensive disaster prevention and control for major structural multi-hazards, intelligent disaster reduction for civil engineering infrastructure, and comprehensive disaster prevention and resilience enhancement for civil engineering, with the aim of creating a national strategic scientific and technological force for civil engineering disaster prevention and safety enhancement.