China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has issued an urgent notice announcing a planned re-examination of recent verification work on the production capacity of the country's coal mines.

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Along with the State Administration of Work Safety and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, the NDRC has ordered a nationwide verification of coal mine production capacity starting in June this year. The work registers the production systems, equipment and coal reserves in the country's coal mines, especially those in small towns and villages.

The data collected provide important first-hand material for strengthening management and structural adjustment in coal mine companies.

However, serious lapses surfaced during the verification process. Some verification institutions lack professional skills to do the job, while others file false reports on coal mine reserves in collaboration with coal companies.

The State Administration of Work Safety had announced earlier that China will seal off 2,652 small mines with an annual output of less than 30,000 tonnes this year and another 2,209 next year.

The notice says the government's decision to re-examine the results of recent verification work comes amid concerns production despite overcapacity remains the single most deadly cause of coal mine accidents.

China's coal industry will face serious over-production problems with a yearly production of three billion tons, warns Pu Hongjiu, vice president of the China National Coal Association (CNCA).

Coal demand is expected to reach only 2.5 billion tonnes in 2010, much lower than the current output, Pu Hongjiu was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

CNCA statistics show China's coal output was 1.37 billion tonnes in 1996. The figure soared to 2.15 billion tonnes in 2005.

In the meantime, Chinese coal mines suffer frequent explosions, flooding and cave-ins, claiming about 6,000 lives a year, a Xinhua report says.

In the latest tragedy, eight miners were confirmed dead in a colliery blast early Friday in Jixi in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province, six days after a similar tragedy killed 26 in the same city.

Chinese courts recently sentenced seven mine bosses to prison. They were held responsible for two fatal coal mine gas explosions that killed 249 miners in northwestern China's Shaanxi province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region respectively.