Statistics released by the SAWS show that coal mine accidents and deaths decreased  by  9.2  percent and 1.5 percent in 2005 in the face of a 7.9 percent annual leap in production.

Li Qiang, an administration official, said that the rise of serious coal mine accidents  has  not  been  effectively stopped, citing four serious coal mine accidents last year that caused more than 100 deaths each.

Li said  that small coal mines with poor production facilities accounted for a large  proportion of coal mine accidents last year. In 2005, small coal mines contributed 38 percent of the country's total coal output and a whopping 74 percent of coal mine-related deaths, he said.

While the  Chinese  government  pledges  to  solve  the  small coal mine problem within three years, an expert doubts its realization.

"Investors  have  made  huge  investments  in these coal mines, and they think that shutting down these coal mines is a heavier loss to bear than losses incurred  by  compensation  to  deceased  miners," an expert, who asked to  remain  anonymous,  told Interfax during the summit. "And they also owe  huge  loans to banks, which cannot accept bad accounts brought by the suspension of these coal mines."

The expert  also  noted that the local governments played major roles in implementing   these   coal   mine  safety  regulations,  and  if  local governments  tend  to  neglect  these regulations for their own sake, it would be hard to move forward, if at all.

"Take the  recent  coal  mine  accidents  for  example. Those coal mines should have   already  been  shut  down  [prior  to  the  accidents]  in accordance with the law," he said.