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China Looking Globally for Ways to Improve Coal Mine Safety

Posted on: Thursday, 13 October 2005, 18:00 CDT

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

Beijing, 13 October: With its coal mining safety a hot issue attracting wide attention from both home and overseas, China is seeking solutions from the world to improve its coal mining safety system. The Conference on South African Coal Mining Safety Technology and Equipment held here Thursday [13 October] provides an opportunity for Chinese coal mine production personnel to learn from their South African counterpart in the area of coal mining safety.

At the conference, experts in the coal mining industry from South Africa showcased their technology and equipment in mining safety and shared their expertise and experience in coal mine management. Wang Shuhe, deputy director of the State Administration of Coal-Mine Safety (SACMS) said that the mining industry is well developed in South Africa. So China could learn much from the country which has a complete safety system and mines rescuing system.

According to Gu Tao, senior engineer with the Communication and Information Centre of the SACMS, the cooperation between China and South Africa has a long history in the coal mine industry. China has bought over 40 mining communication equipments from the country so far.

"I have learned about China's coal mining safety situation from news. The mining safety technology and equipments have been sold to countries such as the United States and Australia. We hope that our cooperation with China could help improve working conditions of Chinese coal mine workers," said Mthokozisi MA Zondi, deputy chief inspector of mine, the Department of Minerals and Energy of South Africa.

According to Kuang Mahua, deputy division chief of the Department of Regulations and Liaison, the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, trade of technology has become the main technology communication mode between China and other countries. "China's coal mine safety improvement efforts have provided a big market for the world. This conference is only a start. We will hold more such communications between China and countries advanced in coal mine safety technology and management experience such as Australia in the future," he said.

Coal is the major energy resource in China, covering 67 per cent in the country's consumption structure of all primary energy resources. In recent years, The government has issued a series of regulations and measures to improve the country's coal mine safety situation. However, the situation is still serious. According to statistics, from January to September this year, the total number of coal mine accident is 2,337, with 4,228 people dead. Up to 10 October, there were 43 major accidents this year. A major accident means more than 10 deaths at one time.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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