Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) The Chinese goverment will spend nearly US$ 60 billion over the next five years to reduce the high death toll in the workplace, especially in mines and construction sites, state media reported.
A plan issued yesterday calls for reducing China's overall industrial death rate from 3.85 per 100,000 workers last year to 2.8 in 2010. It is the first long-range safety plan of its kind for the Communist regime.
China's coal mines are especially dangerous, with more than 5,000 deaths reported every year due to fires, floods, cave-ins and explosions. However, unofficial figures put the total death toll much higher.
Industrial accidents killed more than 127,000 people in China last year, but available reports do not provide comparative data to measure rates of change over time.
The government will spend 467.4 billion yuan on nine major unspecified safety improvement measures through 2010, with mine safety receiving top priority,
"China plans to do more training on safety production, monitor potential accidents and encourage reporting of illegal behaviour," Xinhua news agency reports.
Chinese leaders have accused local officials of obstructing safety efforts by failing to enforce regulations for fear of hurting businesses.
"Driven by economic interests, some local governments have turned a blind eye to safety problems in factories and coal mines," Xinhua said.