The Chinese government will take tough measures, including the shutdown of unsafe coal mines, to prevent serious coal mine accidents, a senior production safety supervisor said here Thursday.

Zhao Tiechui, vice-director of the State Administration of Production Safety, said at a national telephone conference on coalmine safety that China has still not brought serious coal mine accidents under control.

According to statistics released at the conference, six serious coal mine accidents each claiming more than 30 lives occurred in China from the beginning of this year to Sept. 17. The death toll in this period reached 309, up 25 percent from the same period of last year.

Zhao attributed the worsening situation to reckless acceleration in coal production caused by brisk sales and rising coal prices.

"Some previously closed illegal mines have resumed production, while state-owned coal mines have accelerated production in excess of their production safety standards," said Zhao.

He said five categories of coal mines will suspend production for a safety overhaul or simply be closed, including small mines lacking the minimum production safety facilities, state-owned mines with potential safety risks and state-owned coal mines that had experienced accidents claiming more than three lives since July.

The official criticized certain regions for failing to balance regional economic growth with production safety issues and allowing unsafe coalmines to continue production.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2003)