Starting next year, families of fatal workplace accident victims will be entitled to a maximum compensation of 600,000 yuan (US$88,560), compared with the current 200,000 yuan.

The move is to push companies and employers to tighten work security management, Luo Lin, director of the State Administration of Work Security, said yesterday at a conference in Beijing.

Part of the compensation is calculated by multiplying the average city disposable income by 20 times year. The rest includes funeral costs and subsidies to the victim's dependants and families.

Last year, China's urban residents made a yearly disposable income of 17,300 yuan, Luo noted.

In the first six months this year, workplace accidents and casualties dropped 6.6 percent and 11 percent respectively, according to Luo.