China to Close 6,000 Coal Mines in Safety Push

China will close 6,000 collieries over the next two years as it battles to improve safety in the world's deadliest mines, the government has pledged.

Over a third of the country's coal pits will shut by the end of 2010, leaving China with fewer than 10,000, vice-premier Zhang Dejiang said.

The country is the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, which provides around 70% of its energy.

Despite a safety drive, which has cut deaths by almost a fifth since 2005, on average more than 10 people died each day last year in mining incidents such as flooded shafts and collapses. The true death toll, including mining-related illnesses, is far higher.

It is only months since China shut power plants and local governments limited electricity consumption due to insufficient coal supplies.

But the authorities are seeking to boost production at larger, often state-owned pits, and October's drop in electricity output - the first in four years - may make it easier to meet needs while improving safety. The decline in electricity output is thought to reflect the impact of the global downturn and other economic pressures on heavy industry.

Zhang told a meeting in Beijing that the number of deaths in the first 10 months of 2008 fell 13.5% compared with the same period last year, continuing the last five years' decline.

But Zhao Tiechui, vice-minister of the State Administration of Work Safety, said that despite the reduction in workplace accidents, the situation had "still not fundamentally improved", China Daily reported.

He warned that officials as well as employers needed to prioritise safety and said that more small mines and chemical plants should be shut because they pollute and are a danger to workers.

Zhao said too many companies concentrated solely on profits and cited outdated technology, a lack of safety awareness and poor management as the key problems.

He added: "We have to change the mindset that economic growth is more important then people's safety.

"We should make it clear to every official that they will be measured not only on GDP growth, but also their record on work safety."

Provincial authorities in Yunnan, Henan, Liaoning and Shanxi provinces said recently that senior officials with state-owned coal mining companies or related government departments will be sacked if fatal incidents happen in their areas and will then be ineligible for other official posts for five years.

The government has also pledged to blacklist firms linked to major incidents so that they cannot secure bank loans.

An industry analyst, who asked to remain anonymous due to company policy, said China had already shut 10,000 coal mines since 2005.

"There is no coal shortage at the moment, especially given diminishing demand," she said.

"The government is trying to consolidate the whole coal industry, and encourage large mines to produce more. They are trying to keep a balance between the coal supply and mine accidents, which create issues of their own such as social stability."

She added that over the next decade or so the government was seeking to boost significantly its use of renewable energy.

A report by environmental groups last month warned that the true cost of coal in China - when social and environmental by-products such as pollution were included - amounted to £160bn annually.

But experts acknowledge that enforcing mine safety is a headache for the government because small pits often operate illicitly - frequently with the connivance of corrupt local officials.