VZCZCXRO2256
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHBJ #0429/01 0190414
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190414Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3959
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 7433
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6807
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 7768
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 2179
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 6214
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 8758
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1558

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 000429 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT PASS USTR FOR KARESH, A. ROSENBERG, MCCARTIN 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
TREAS FOR OASIA/ISA-CUSHMAN 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN 
GENEVA FOR CHAMBERLIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EAID EMIN PHUM PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Embassy Visit to Mine Safety Program Site 
 
REF: 06 Beijing 23804 
 
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED: NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  The United States Department of 
Labor's (USDOL) program on Mine Safety and Health in 
China is proceeding well.  Both the State 
Administration for Work Safety (SAWS) and the Yangquan 
Coal Group (YCG), the project's industrial partner, 
report that the project has opened their eyes to what 
is achievable in the area of mine safety, and has 
inspired them to higher standards in their respective 
regulatory and management operations.  The USDOL 
project has produced an excellent demonstration effect 
in terms of technical measures to improve mine safety. 
In planning future cooperation on mine safety, the USG 
should also examine ways to address the governance 
problems (ref) that lie at the root of China's mine 
safety problem.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On November 21-22, Laboff, Econoff and 
Labor Assistant visited the Xinjing mine in Yangquan, 
Shanxi Province.  The Xinjing mine, owned by YCG, is 
the "model mine" in which participants in the USDOL 
project put new mine safety management and training 
programs into practice.  Emboffs visited the 
underground mine safety training center, toured other 
facilities at the Xinjing mine, and discussed the 
USDOL program with SAWS and YCG management.  SAWS and 
YCG management both consider the program highly 
successful. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  YCG reported that it has sent 18 mine 
safety trainers to receive training from United States 
consultants at the North China Institute of Science 
and Technology (NCIST) in Beijing.  Those 18 trainers 
in turn have trained over 1000 miners using newly 
revised materials.  United States consultants have 
provided mine safety training sessions for management 
personnel, and Chinese mine managers have traveled to 
the United States on study tours to the Mine Health 
and Safety Administration and several operating coal 
mines.  In September 2006, YCG organized training for 
88 mine rescue workers at NCIST.  YCG has also 
implemented new safety programs, introduced by USDOL- 
funded consultants into its own operations at its own 
expense, such as a system in which all YCG employees 
must pass computerized mine safety knowledge 
examinations keyed to their specific duties once a 
month.  YCG is also in the early stages of installing 
a pilot electronic locator system for all mine workers 
at the Xinjing mine. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  YCG executives said the USDOL program has 
provided valuable lessons based on international and 
United States mine safety experience on legal 
mechanisms, mine safety awareness, and mine accident 
prevention, and has helped them see the deficiencies 
of Chinese practices more clearly.  YCG reports that 
mine safety awareness and the quality of training has 
markedly improved at their mines as a result of the 
project. YCG said exposure to new concepts in mine 
safety has enabled them to achieve new management 
breakthroughs, through, for example, a salary 
incentive program to track and reward the safety 
performance of individual workers.  YCG said they were 
inspired by their visits to the United States to close 
the gap with American mines in terms of safety 
equipment, gas extraction and production methods.  YCG 
reported that is has produced 5.8 million tons of coal 
at the Xinjing mine so far in 2006 without a single 
fatality, compared to two fatalities in 2005.  One 
mine manager told Laboff that the one concept 
introduced through the USDOL project that impressed 
him most was that all accidents can be avoided.  This 
 
BEIJING 00000429  002 OF 002 
 
 
is not the usual operating assumption of Chinese 
mines, he said. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Laboff separately asked YCG executives and 
SAWS officials what the USDOL program provides, in 
terms of training and information, that the Chinese 
Government or coal industry could not obtain on its 
own.  YCG executives said that although mine safety 
consultant services and training are available 
commercially, the main issue is knowing what to look 
for.  YCG is well aware that United States mining and 
mine safety technology is the best in the world, they 
said, but that they would not be aware of United 
States management concepts without the USDOL program. 
To independently achieve United States mine safety 
management standards would take much longer.  By way 
of example, one YCG executive added that pre- 
extraction of coal bed methane is required by law in 
the United States, but not in China, so China has no 
little domestic experience in this area.  SAWS told 
Laboff that the value of the USDOL program is in 
educating mine managers about what can be achieved in 
the area of mine safety and how they can benefit from 
integrating higher safety standards into their 
operations.  The next step, SAWS officials said, is to 
transfer the lessons learned at YCG to other mines 
throughout China. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Comment:  The USDOL program is a catalyst, 
bringing SAWS and industry together on OSH issues in a 
manner that would not likely happen without USG 
involvement.  SAWS and YCG showed strong interest in 
further cooperation, and we should encourage them to 
continue to engage United States consultants directly 
after the end of the USDOL program in 2007.  However, 
YCG is not typical of the Chinese mining sector as a 
whole--YCG suffered very few mine accidents even 
before the USDOL program, while the average coal mine 
fatality rate for China is 100 times that of the 
United States.  The problem of mine safety in China is 
not just a question of know-how, but one of 
governance.  According to SAWS, small, poorly- 
regulated mines that account for one third of China's 
coal production are responsible for two thirds of coal 
mine fatalities.  In addition, Chinese labor and legal 
experts at a conference on Mine safety in November 
(ref) noted that a weak legal framework, inadequate 
resources, corruption and a lack of accountability are 
fundamental problems that thwart China's efforts to 
enforce even its existing standards.  The USDOL 
project has produced an excellent demonstration effect 
on the technical side.  In planning future cooperation 
on mine safety, the USG should also examine ways to 
address the governance problems that lie at the root 
of China's mine safety problem. 
RANDT