Thousands of Chinese miners die in accidents every year

The five-year plan on workplace security, the first of its kind, will particularly target the coal mining industry, Xinhua news agency said.

China's mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with more than 5,000 deaths reported every year.

The plan aims to encourage the reporting of poor safety practices.

In addition to the mining industry, the plan would also target chemical and fireworks factories, Xinhua said.

Funds of 467.4bn yuan ($58.6bn) will be invested in nine safety projects, with emphasis on monitoring production safety, education campaigns and improving workplace management.

The plan aims to reduce the industrial death rate from 3.85 per 100,000 workers to 2.8 by 2010.

Targets

Last year, 127,000 people died in accidents in the workplace, and in 17 cases the number of casualties exceeded 30, Xinhua said.

The high death rate is in part due to local officials turning a "blind eye", Xinhua said.

As China's economy has expanded, some local officials have ignored safety concerns in factories and mines in order to achieve production and profit targets.

Under the new plan, adherence to work safety practices would be a factor in the way local officials were evaluated, the agency said.

Beijing has been working to introduce measures to improve mine safety and in April pledged to close all small coal mines by 2007.