The officials' comments came at an emergency national conference in which participants agreed to shut down those mines operating without proper certificates.

They also agreed to set up a system by July in which mine companies must prove to the ministry they are not exploiting their workers. Otherwise, the companies will be shut down.

"This is a harsh problem that has never been effectively corrected," Tian Fengshan, land and resources minister, told top local resource officials. "It has to be treated seriously now. If not, many innocent people will be in grave danger."

China has suffered many fatal mining accidents this year. The Nandan accident in South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regions alone killed more than 80 miners.

Tian blamed many of the deaths on the lack of proper mining licenses and unapproved mining practices.

He cited a bloody cave-in accident earlier this year in a quarry in Leping, Jiangxi Province in which 40 of the 43 mining units were working without mining licenses.

Backward facilities and poor techniques have resulted in many enterprises wasting valuable mining resources and destroying the environment.

"To improve this situation, we should ask those unqualified in equipment operation and technique to stop," Tian said. "We should also oversee them, as well as the qualified ones, to make sure they do not harm the environment. That way the land can be used for afforestation and crop cultivation."

Tian called on the ministry to enhance supervision, detection and punishment of corrupt officials and illegal mining operations.

(China Daily 09/13/2001)