BEIJING, March 6 (UPI) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's voice trembled with emotion Saturday as he delivered his 2005 worker safety report to deputies of China's legislature.
"Since last year many catastrophic accidents have occurred in some areas and industries," the head of China's cabinet told deputies gathered Saturday for the opening plenum of the National People's Congress.
Wen said, "We must draw on the bitter lesson they taught us and adopt still more effective measures to improve our work to ensure production safety.
"We must strictly enforce the system of responsibility for production safety, strengthen safety supervision, and intensify inspection and law enforcement ... to remove all kinds of hazards and minimize the occurrence of accidents," the premier added.
Wen said coal mining safety was the State Council's top priority. He listed the need for systems and mechanisms to ensure security, as well as investments of $365 million during 2005 to improve facilities and upgrade technology in state-owned mines.
More than 6,000 Chinese miners were killed in work related accidents last year.
