The Chinese government on Thursday released a coal industry
policy document, putting a ban on new coal mines with an annual
capacity below 300,000 tons.
The document comes in the wake of a nationwide campaign to close
down small coal mines, which account for one third of China's total
production but two thirds of the deaths resulting from colliery
accidents.
But as existing small mines were being shut down, new ones were
being opened, Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work
Safety, admitted earlier this year.
The top work safety official said that the work safety situation
remained grave because colliery accidents were still prominent.
Last year, China produced 2.4 billion tons of coal but
production of its 80,000 coal companies averaged only 30,000 tons.
Meanwhile, accidents in small coal mines claimed 3,431 lives.
To better protect the environment, the document said that
environmental appraisal must be carried out in coal mines and that
coal mines must not be built in such "vulnerable areas" as nature
reserves, water sources and geological hazard zones.
A total of 13 large coal production bases would be formed in
Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Henan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Ningxia and
Inner Mongolia to ensure stable supply of coal in the country, it
said.
The document also aims to protect the interests of coal mine
workers, saying they should work in four shifts per day and be
covered by work injury insurance.
(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2007)