BEIJING, July 11 (UPI) -- China's government announced plans to close more than 4,000 small coal mines.
As environmental concerns over the use of coal grow, the nation has announced a goal to reduce the number of coal mines to below 10,000 by 2010, a coal mine safety official told Xinhua news agency.
"The large number of small coal mines remains a threat to production safety," said Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety.
Officials are trying to encourage regions that rely heavily on coal to close smaller mines in a consolidation effort, Xinhua reported.
China reportedly has about 16,000 coal mines. About 90 percent of the nation's mines are considered small mines, which have worse safety records than larger mines.
