Li Yizhong, director general of State Ministry of Work Safety, has decided to completely close all the small coal mines in the country by the first half year of 2008.

The closures of the small coal mines has been divided into three stages. The first phase started in May 2006 when six thousand small coal mines were closed.

The second stage lasts from now until the first half of next year when the older coal mines will be systematically shuttered. And the final stage is focused on improving the management capacity of legally-registered small coal mines by the first half of 2008.

So far, the number of legal coal mines in Shanxi province, the location of much of China's mining industry, has been reduced from 8144 to 3866, and 4876 illegal coal mines have been closed down.

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