China State Administration of Work Safety has decided to close 625 smallcoal mines this year.

The Chinese government has acted to ensure safety within the coal mining industry with a coal mine explosion last week claiming the lives of 43 workers killed in China southwest Sichuan province.

According the newspaper, safety monitoring equipment was found to be inefficient with investigators finding production continued despite the presence of highly concentrated gas in the mind.

SAWS spokesman Mr Huang YI said coal mining remains a high-risk industry in the country despite improvements over the past decade.

He said that "Lessons must be drawn from recent accidents to eliminate potential hazards that also exist in the non-coal mining, transportation, construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as in industries involving the storage of hazardous chemicals, fireworks and explosives."

Ms Xu Yi-chong Griffith's University professor said "China top eight mining groups accounted for only around 20 per cent of national coal output in 2010. He said that to me, this is the main problem as small coal mines tend to have very low safety standards, very low labour standards and are very difficult to regulate."