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Circular Issued to Close Down Small Coal Mines
To curb the recurrence of coal mine accidents, the State Council on June 14 issued an urgent circular demanding all state-owned small coal mines be shut right away and a stop put to coal mining by all township coal mines.
The circular said that safe production of coal mining has posed a very serious hazardous problem in China. From January to April this year, 118 serious coal mine accidents have occurred bringing a death total of 891, of which, state-owned and township coal mine accidents make up the majority.
The circular asks that since issuance of the circular all state-owned coal mines stop operation and be closed before June 30. As for some provinces like Shanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang with a weighing task to that end, they should also shut down all small coal mines by the end of September. Meanwhile, all township coal mining will have to be suspended and thorough revamping work carried out before getting back to normal operation.
Inspection and supervision organs should be set up by local governments to check into and confirm closures of coal mines on the list to be shut.
The circular stressed that coal mines that fail to close and stop production or go back to operation afterwards should be investigated and dealt with according to law and relevant departments called to account for their responsibilities in accidents investigated.
By PD Online staff member Li Yan
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