Chinese State Councilor Hua Jianmin urged government officials to follow work safety still more closely after a series of grave accidents over the past few months at a national teleconference on safe production in Beijing Tuesday.

The conference noted China still faces a grim work safety situation, as major accidents continue to occur, causing serious casualties and economic losses.

"Local governments are required to implement a system of safe production and make the record of work safety a main criterion in assessing an official's performance," according to the conference.

Businesses, especially coal mines, have to inspect their work safety conditions and take measures if safety problems are found, the conference noted.

They are also required to adopt advanced and reliable technologies and equipment to ensure work safety, while governments should support more businesses' drive in innovating safe production technologies, the conference said.

Last month alone saw three major coal mine accidents in China, with the most serious one, a gas explosion in China's Chenjiashan Coalmine in Shaanxi Province on Nov. 28, leaving 166 miners dead and missing.

A week before this, a CRJ-200 jet, with 47 passengers and six crew members on board, crashed into a lake on November 21. No one aboard survived, and two people on land were also killed.

Source: Xinhua