China's 31 large state-owned coal producing companies saw their profits double in the first two months of 2005, said the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council Thursday.

The companies together realized a profit of 4.46 billion yuan (540 million US dollars), 120 percent higher year-on-year, said the commission in a report.

It attributed the high profit growth to rising coal price in the market. A pinched power supply has bothered the country for more than a year and the huge coal demand continuously drives up the price.

In January, coal prices went up 20 percent year-on-year and up 26.8 percent in February.

However, behind the high profits there is the increasing number of miner deaths.

China's coal mines are considered the deadliest in the world. The number of deaths in Chinese coal mines soared by 20.8 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier to 1,113, according to statistics released by the state safety agency Tuesday. More than 6,000 miners died in accidents last year.

Li Yizhong, the newly named director of China's top work safety watchdog Tuesday appealed for tougher penalties for mine operators responsible for deadly accidents to reduce miner deaths.

Source: Xinhua