Last year, China invested a total of 43.3 billion yuan ($5.4 billion) to increase coal mine safety, including upgrading safety equipment, improving ventilation, and reducing gas emission. In terms of miners killed per million metric tons of coal produced, a Chinese miner is nearly 140 times more likely to die in a mine-related accident than his American counterpart.

The government has realized that investment in safety improvement alone will not be enough to solve the problem. Further action is on the way. China is poised to revise the Coal Law, in place since 1996, to tighten measures for coal mine safety and bring to justice officials who are found to be responsible for coal mine accidents. Li Yizhong, chief of China’s Administration of Work Safety, said the revised law will apply tougher economic penalties and require greater monetary compensation for coal mine accidents, because most accidents in China are caused by simple negligence.

An astounding number of coal mine accidents are caused by inadequate safety infrastructure or extremely outdated and worn-out safety facilities. Many coal mines exceed their mining capacities in pursuit of profit, risking dangerous gas build-ups in the tunnels of depleting mines. Gas explosions are the biggest cause of China’s coal miner deaths.

Li Yizhong claims the root cause of coal mine accidents is the corruption of local government officials who have shares in the small coal mines, saying, “We cannot talk about coal mine safety unless the corruption is rooted out.” He states that collusion between owners and officials, as well as under-the-table transactions, are to blame for the frequent coal mine accidents. These officials, who have invested in local coal mines, provide shelter for the owners of the many accident-prone coal mines operating illegally that often cause mass casualties.

China claims to be getting tough on corruption in the coal industry. In one bribery case, Zhao Dawu (a former director of the coal bureau in Zunyi county in Guizhou province), was sentenced to life in prison after it was discovered he took millions in bribes from coal mine investors. A total of 454 officials, including five at ministerial levels, have been disciplined for their roles in 27 coal mine disasters since 2001.