Closing unsafe mines will have little impact on coal supply: official

China's top work safety watchdog agency said Tuesday that despite worries about short coal supplies, it will not offer operating licenses to coal mines that do not meet the official safety codes.

"Safety comes first when there is a contradiction between safety and coal output," said Li Yizhong, the newly named director of the General Administration of Work Safety (GAWS).

"Those coal mines without safe working conditions must be closed down or suspended for rectification."

The administration has postponed the deadline for coal mines to apply for operating licenses from Jan. 13, 2005 to July 13, 2005, giving coal mines with substandard working conditions more time to improve them.

Most of the problem coal mines are smaller ones, mostly private-run, he said.

Of the country's 25,400 coal mines, the 778 major state-owned mines produce 57 percent of the country's total 1.9 billion-ton coal output, said the official.

About 1,200 medium-sized State-owned ones produce 15 percent of the total, while a total of 23,400 small coal mines produce 28 percent of the total, said the official.

China plans to build 13 more big and modern coal mines to increase coal output while encouraging larger coal mines to take over small ones to improve productivity and safety, said the officials.

Smaller coal mines are notorious for their substandard working conditions and record for their compliance with state safety regulations.

Li also said China is also encouraging improvement of energy efficiency and mode of development to reduce demand for coal.

Currently, the production of 1.2 billion tons of coal in China is done safely, whereas 700 million tons produced in an unsafe environment.

Additionally, approximately 400 million tons of coal turned out by mines in towns do not have safety protection.

In 2004, the coal output by irregular town mines rose 57 percent and comprised 53 percent of China's total increased output.

Source: Xinhua