Six thousand coal mines will be closed over the next two years in a bid to improve workplace safety, Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang said Tuesday.

By the end of 2010, China will have less than 10,000 mines, down from about 16,000 today, he said.

Speaking at the 4th China International Forum in Beijing, Zhang said that in the first 10 months of this year, the number of people killed in coal mine accidents fell 13.5 percent on the same period of last year.

A miner with a blindfold over his eyes to protect him from the light is rescued from a flooded coal shaft in Henan Province on November 18, 2008. Rescuers pulled 32 miners out of the Gaomengdong mine in Pingdingshan. Two others died. [Xinhua]

Since 2003, the government has spent more than 87 billion yuan ($12.7 billion) on technical innovations for the coal industry, and over the same period, the annual number of workplace accidents has fallen every year, he said.

Zhao Tiechui, vice-minister of the State Administration of Work Safety, said Tuesday that more small coal mines and chemical plants should be shut down as they are a source of pollution and hazardous to workers.

About 1,000 mines will have closed by the end of this year.

"Outdated technology, a lack of safety awareness and poor management are the fatal problems," Zhao said.

Too many companies have a shortsighted view, concentrating solely on profits and not paying enough attention to safety concerns, he said.

The government has always emphasized the importance of safe development as a key part of its Scientific Outlook on Development, he said.

Despite a reduction in the number of workplace accidents since 2003, the situation has "still not fundamentally improved", Zhao said.

Governments, and especially senior officials, must pay more attention to safety in the workplace in order to achieve sustainable economic development and social stability, he said.

"We have to change the mindset that economic growth is more important then people's safety.

"We should make it clear to every official that they will be measured not only on GDP growth, but also their record on work safety," he said.

Provincial authorities in Yunnan, Henan, Liaoning and Shanxi said recently that senior officials with State-owned coal mining companies or related government departments will be sacked in the event of fatal workplace accidents happening within their jurisdictions.

They will also be ineligible to work in an official post for a period of five years.

On November 1, Tian Zhihua, vice-mayor of Jiyuan, Henan province, and five other senior officials, were punished with sacking and suspensions following an accident at a coal mine on Oct 29, in which one man died.

Zhao also said firms linked to serious accidents will be put on a blacklist, making it impossible for them to secure bank loans. On November 2, 42 such firms were blacklisted.

Among them was the Xinta mine company from Xiangfen, Shanxi, which was blamed for the deaths of 276 people when its iron ore reservoir collapsed.

(China Daily November 20, 2008)