Nearly half of the coal mines in China's Shanxi province have reopened after being closed for safety reasons, the state run Xinhua news agency has reported. It said 1,838 mines had been checked for safety over the last three months, and were now resuming operations.
Shanxi province holds one third of China's coal reserves but hundreds of mines have been shut down because of a series of accidents.
Xinhua said that checks on the mines were speeded up because of energy shortages with the onset of winter.
The price of coal has risen significantly since September because less coal has been produced.
One-Minute World News 
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