China to Close 1,000 Small Collieries By Yearend

China to close 1,000 small collieries by yearend

ZHENGZHOU, July 11 (Xinhua) — The Chinese government is to accelerate the closure of small collieries, vowing to close another 1,000 before 2008, six months ahead of the schedule.

Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), told a national conference on small coal mine safety management that the previous target had been 10,000 small mine closures from August 2005 to June 2008.

However, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and the State Council had advanced the deadline to December 2007, he told the conference in Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan Province.

Small coal mines, defined as having an annual production of less than 30,000 tons, account for one third of China’s total production, but two thirds of the deaths resulting from coal mine accidents.

Encouraged in the 1980s, small coal mines mushroomed across the country to number more than 80,000. In 2006, accidents in small coal mines claimed 3,431 lives.

Li said the country had already closed 9,075 small coal mines since August 2005, and now has about 17,000 small coal mines.

The SAWS would also help other mines improve work safety and technical capabilities, said Li.

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