The National Coal Mine Safety Administration ("NCMSA") has recently issued the Circular on Launching Overall Inspections of Work Safety in Coal Mines (the "Circular").
The Circular reads that: 1. The inspections will commence from late August 2019 to the end of September this year; and 2. The inspections will be conducted to mainly look at 1) the performance of regulatory duties by local governments and their coal mine safety regulators and the work they have conducted, specifically the efforts made to push ahead the rectification and closedown of ineligible coal mines and the elimination of backward capacity and to intensify supervisory checks of coal mines that are going to be shut down this year, 2) the accomplishment of key tasks by coal mine safety supervisors, specifically measures they have taken to deal with major safety risks and hidden dangers that may result in accidents and punish the irregularities uncovered, and 3) the fulfillment of primary responsibilities by coal mine enterprises, specifically the duty performance by their superior companies, the establishment and staffing of coal mine safety management departments, the establishment and implementation of the coal mine safety accountability system and the coal mine safety management system, whether the hidden danger survey and elimination system has been set up and put into effect for coal mines and whether activities have been carried out to identify, manage and control major safety risks, and the efforts made to strengthen the basic safety management of coal mines.