China provides some coal comfort

By Wang Ying  |   2008-8-11  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

CHINA, the world's biggest producer of coal, will increase production at large mines to ease a shortage of the fuel in the second half of this year, the state work-safety bureau has announced.

The State Administration of Work Safety would continue shutting small, unsafe mines while state-owned companies would be asked to boost output at bigger ones to comply with government orders to improve mining safety and end energy shortages, Wang Dexue, deputy director, said at a press conference in Beijing on Saturday.

China was cracking down on poorly managed, privately run mines to rein in industrial accidents, Bloomberg News reported.

The country mothballed almost 3 percent of its coal-fired generating capacity as of July 25 due to insufficient fuel supply and faced a sixth year of electricity shortages, the State Grid Corp said.

China reduced the death toll from coal mine accidents by 24 percent to 1,631 in the first seven months, Huang Yi, deputy head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, said on Saturday.

Restrictions on transporting hazardous materials near Olympic venues have disrupted some coal production by strangling deliveries of explosives, Zhang Wenjiang, assistant general manager of Shenhua Group Corp, said.