4,876 illegal mines in Shanxi closed
Published by MAC on 2006-02-014,876 illegal mines in Shanxi closed
by Xinhua News Agency, Beijing News
1st February 2006
Following a central government’s nation-wide order issued in August last year, a total of 4,876 illegal mines have been closed in Shanxi and 1,268 mining officials in the province have been “handled with administrative procedures”.
A central government investigation team found that 952 government officials in the province had personal investments in coal mine operations, involving a total of 156 million yuan of investments. Among those officials, 947 have withdrawn their personal investments in coal mine businesses, amounting to 151 million yuan of investments, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Citing statistics from the State Administration of Work Safety, the report said more than 70 percent of major coal mine accidents in the province occurred in illegal mines in recent years.
Shanxi is a major coal-producing province in China. It produced 543 million tonnes of coal in 2005 and 80 percent of which were exported to other provinces in the country. Official statistics showed that 179 coal mine accidents happened in Shanxi in 2005, killing a total of 468 people.