The National Bureau of Production Safety Supervision and
Administration said on Monday that nearly 2,000 coal mines have
been closed since August in a substantial effort to better protect
miners' lives.
There are plans to shut down at least 4,000 coal mines by the
end of the year, said a bureau official. "We will assess the
crackdown mainly by the number of mines we close."
A crackdown on substandard coal mines was launched in August,
following the flooding of Daxing Coal Mine in southern China that
claimed 123 lives.
The work safety regulator said the operation of approximately
13,000 collieries had also been suspended in the same period.
Many Chinese coal mines have been operating without legal
licenses; 9,000 operating illegally have been closed since the
beginning of the year.
(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2005)