China has launched a safety inspection effort targeting all working coal mines and coal-mining projects after several recent fatal accidents, a statement by its State Council, or cabinet, showed on Tuesday.
The world’s largest coal miner and coal consumer reported more than 100 coal mining accidents in 2020.
The checks, running from Friday until the end of next year, focus on coal mining infrastructure, risk prevention management for major disasters and capabilities for emergency response and rescue, the statement showed.
Inspectors will also crack down on miners operating beyond their planned production or approved capacity.
In a statement on Friday, national coal mine safety authorities vowed to tighten scrutiny over local government checks on coal safety.
The latest campaign is expected to put a brake on expansion of coal production and further tighten supply of the fuel, as stringent curbs on coal imports halved October arrivals in China.
China produced 3.13 billion tonnes of coal in the first 10 months, up just 0.1% from the corresponding period last year, official data show.
The most-active thermal coal futures at the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange hit a record high of 619 yuan ($94.28) a tonne on Tuesday.
($1=6.5655 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(By Muyu Xu and Shivani Singh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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