China will reduce coal mine accidents by at least a quarter by 2010, according to the 11th Five-Year Plan for Coal Mine Production Safety published on Wednesday.

According to the plan, the death rate for production of 1 million tons of coal will drop by more than 25 percent by 2010, an annual drop of at least 5 percent from 2006 to 2010.

Every day, 17 miners lose their lives in Chinese coal mines, which are the world's deadliest. While China's 2005 death rate of 2.81 percent for 1 million tons of coal was an improvement of 45 percent on the 2001 figure, it is still 70 times worse than the United States figure, 17 times worse than South Africa, 10 times worse than Poland and seven times worse than Russia and India.

China reported 256 coal mine accidents that each claimed 10 or more lives in the 2001-2005 period. The number of fatal accidents will be cut by 20 percent in the 2006-2010 period, according to the plan publicized by the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

According to the SAWS, the central government has made coal mine safety a priority and the figures show that progress has been made.

The central government allocated 8.9 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) so that major coal mines could upgrade production safety technologies in the 2001-2005 period. The government also adopted a series of policies on coal mine safety and dealt harshly with officials and enterprises held accountable for fatal accidents.

China reported 4,241 coal mine accidents annually in the 1996-2000 period, but the number dropped to 3,703 annually during the 2001-2005 period. Death toll from coal mine accidents was 7,619 annually during the 1996-2000 period, and the death toll was 6,213 annually in the 2001-2005 period.

According to the 11th Five-Year plan, China will make further efforts to increase treatment of coal mine gas, close more small coal mines, upgrade technologies, intensify check-ups and provide miners with safety training to curb accidents.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2007)