China's coal production safety record has improved over the past 10 years, with annual fatalities at coal mines falling from a peak of 6,995 deaths in 2002 to 2,631 in 2009, the Xinhia News Agency has reported.
Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS), said China reported over 20 major coal mine accidents (with death toll of more than 10) in 2009, much less than the peak of 70. For each 1 million tonnes of coal produced, the mortality rate has fallen from 5.4 to less than 1 in 2009.
Zhao, however, warned that China's coal mines were still accident-prone and the world's largest coal-producing country would still need another 10 years to "fundamentally improve" China's coal production safety record.
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