At present, there are about 16,000 coal mines nationwide, among which aprroximately 90 percent are small coal mines, said Zhang Guobao, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on a national conference on colliery gas control.

In 2007, the mortality rate per million tons of coal produced at small mines was eight times that of large state-owned collieries, according to Zhang Guobao. "Almost 2,500 lives could have been spared if safety control measures at small coal mines were as strict as those at large state-owned ones," Zhang said.

Zhang Guobao said the capital, technology, and management advantages of large state-owned collieries should be brought into full play; policies and measures that help large-scale coal mines to merge and reorganize small and medium-sized coal mines should be formulated; 58 coal and gas projecting mines should be taken as the key to vigorously promote coal enterprise mergers and reorganization, improve industrial concentration and the level of productivity.