The non-state sector in China is responsible for 65 percent of the country's industrial and mining accidents and 66 percent of the fatalities last year, the national safety watchdog said Saturday.

Wang Xianzheng, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, said that work safety problems in non-public enterprises have become a major issue though they have made great contribution to the rapid growth of the national economy.

Statistics show that 70 percent of serious accidents since 2001 took place in small non-state enterprises. In 2003, the number of accidents and of fatalities in non-public industrial and mining enterprises rose by 23 percent and 21 percent respectively from the previous year.

An earlier report indicated that tragedies in these caused 17,315 deaths last year, up 16 percent on a yearly basis.

Wang, who addressed a national conference on safety work of non-state enterprises, said low production level and poor management and training of employees are the major causes of the accidents.

The administration has closed a large number of small mines or plants that either operated without license or failed to meet safety standards, established a license system for production safety, and formulated a series of policies on compulsory expense in production safety and increase in compensation for industrial casualties and risk mortgage.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2004)