Speech by Chen Changzhi, Vice Minister of Supervision

May 10, 2007

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning!

On behalf of the Ministry of Supervision, I would like to make a briefing on the handling of those responsible for five major accidents on which the investigation has been concluded case by case since the beginning of this year.

In recent years, the supervision organs at various levels have resolutely implemented the principle of governing the country by law, faithfully fulfilled the duty and taken the participation in accident investigation and handling as an important part of the work on administrative supervision. In particular, since the beginning of last year, these organs have identified the investigation and handling of major accidents as a permanent measure to strengthen work safety, spared no efforts in digging out corruption problems behind accidents, and laid emphasis on preventing and controlling the frequent occurrence of accidents at source. With these efforts, the investigation and handling of major accidents are going in depth and the accountability system is better enforced. Together with the relevant departments, the Ministry of Supervision has concluded the investigation of five major accidents since the beginning of this year.

These accidents are: a major gas and coal dust explosion at the Liuguantun coal mine of Hengyuan Industrial Co., Ltd. in Kaiping district of Tangshan city of Hebei province on December 7th, 2005, a major gas explosion at the Wayaobao town coal mine in Zichang county of Yan'an city of Shaanxi province on April 29th, 2006, a major traffic accident in Chongqing municipality on October 1st, 2006, a major gas explosion at the Jiaojiazhai coal mine of Xuangang Coal & Power Company of Shanxi Datong Coal Mining Group on November 5th, 2006, and a major gas explosion at the Changyuan coal mine in Fuyuan county of Qujing city of Yunnan province on November 25th, 2006.

As a result of all these accidents, 133 individuals are punished, including 51 persons who have been handed over to the judicial organs for prosecution and 82 persons who have been given Party or administrative sanctions (27 persons have been removed from office). Among those punished, there are 6 persons who held positions at the prefectural (or departmental) level, 42 persons who held positions at the county (or divisional) level and 34 persons who held positions below the county level. They fall into the following categories:

(1) 51 persons have been handed over to the judicial organs for prosecution because they bear direct or major responsibility for the occurrence of accidents, and hence are the suspects on the crime of giving rise to major accident, the crime of abuse of power, the crime of dereliction of duty, etc. For example, in the case of the December-7 gas explosion at the Liuguantun coal mine in Hebei Province, the procuratorate organ has approved the arrest of, or place a case on file for investigation of, 15 persons, including four suspects on the crime of giving rise to major accident due to negligence, five suspects on the crime of giving rise to major accident due to poor labor safety facilities, one suspect on the crime of forging officials documents and five suspects on the crime of abuse of power or dereliction of duty.

These persons breach the Criminal Law and the laws and regulations on work safety, by refusing to be regulated by the regulatory departments, by running illegal production in defiance of the regulatory orders issued by the competent authorities, by failing to take effective measures to eliminate hazards, or by neglecting their duty, etc.

(2) 26 enterprise managers have been given Party or administrative sanctions because they bear major leadership responsibility for the occurrence of accidents. For example, in the case of the November-5 gas explosion at the Jiaojiazhai coal mine of Shanxi Datong Coal Mining Group, the mine failed to strictly carry out the rules on cutting off power supply, its mechanical and electrical equipment were in serious deficiency in terms of non-transmission of internal explosion while it organized production in excess of its capacity. The Xuangang Coal & Power Company failed to implement the work safety responsibility system and conduct proper inspection.

These persons failed to implement the policy of “safety first and prevention prioritized” and were inappropriately obsessive about economics in that they produced beyond the designated capacities, thus creating serious problems in work safety management.

(3) 37 staff members of the governmental departments have been given Party or administrative sanctions because they bear important leadership responsibility for the occurrence of accidents. For example, in the cases of the October-1 traffic accident in Chongqing municipality and the November-25 gas explosion at the Changyuan coal mine in Yunnan province, the departments in charge of coal industry administration, land and resources, public security, traffic control, electricity, etc., which were charged with important duty for work safety, failed to fulfill their duty correctly and to conduct proper inspection. 37 persons of these departments receive Party or administrative sanctions.

(4) 19 local government leaders have been given Party or administrative sanctions because they bear leadership responsibility for the occurrence of accidents. The five accidents inflicted great losses on the lives and property of the State and the people, exerted negative impact on local economic development and social stability and severely undermined the reputation of the Party and the government. The leaders of the relevant local governments failed to act on the scientific outlook on development and to foster a correct understanding of credits in their political careers; they failed to correctly handle the relationship between safety and production; they failed to implement the work safety responsibility system and ensure enforcement of the work safety measures; therefore, they are held accountable as leaders, for the occurrence of accidents. A total of 19 local government leaders, including four leaders at the departmental level, receive Party or administrative sanctions.

During the investigation of these accidents, the supervision organs at various levels have, in addition to the serious investigation and punishment of the liable persons in accidents on charges of negligence, toughened the investigation and punishment of those involved in underreporting of accidents, trading power for money, as well as other corrupt practices behind accidents. For example, in the wake of the December-7 gas explosion at the Liuguantun coal mine in Hebei province, those responsible for making it possible for the mine manager to flee overseas and the officials of Kaiping district who invested illegally in the mine have been dealt with. Three persons received Party sanctions while four persons have been handed over to the judicial organs.

The Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Accidents Disrupting Work Safety has been promulgated officially by the State Council and will come into force as of June 1. The promulgation of these Regulations fully demonstrates the great importance attached by the State Council to work safety and its determination to seriously investigate and handle accidents disrupting work safety. The Regulations are set to forcefully push the work on accident reporting, investigation and handling onto an institutionalized, legalized track and will also provide an institutional guarantee for the supervision departments to exercise supervision by law and to promote efforts in a standardized manner. We should study, publicize and enforce the Regulations by taking the following steps: First, make sure that the relevant regulatory documents will be harmonized with the Regulations. The Ministry of Supervision has listed into this year's legislative program the revision of two regulatory documents, namely the Provisional Rules on the Participation by the Supervision Organs in Major Accident Investigation and Handling and the Circular on the Graded Examination and Approval of Administrative Sanctions Given to Those Responsible for Major Accidents, and will speed up the revision process. Second, provide publicity, education and training services to help people better understand, internalize and apply the Regulations. Third, strictly enforce the Regulations, actively participate in accident investigation and handling according to the Regulations, faithfully fulfill the statutory duty, pursue the liability of the supervision counterparts responsible for accidents disrupting work safety, and ensure implementation of the accountability system.

Now, I would like to take questions from the audience.