North China's Shanxi Province, the largest coal producer in the country, closed 1,363 coal mines in 2006 to improve safety and conserve resources, according to the local land and resource authority on Tuesday.

The province has closed more than 30 percent of its 4,389 coal mines scattered in 91 counties and districts, said Kang Youquan, deputy chief of Shanxi Land and Resource Bureau.

It now has a mining area of 6,828 square kilometers and a production capacity of 594 million tons, up 5.5 percent and one percent respectively than before.

The coal mines paid 20.3 billion yuan (US$ 2.6 billion) in royalties to the provincial taxation authorities in 2006, said Kang.

A total of 476 people died in 149 fatal coal mine accidents in the province last year, according to the provincial coal industry bureau.

China is the world's largest coal producer and consumer. The country produced 2.1 billion tons of coal to drive its fast-growing economy in 2005, a quarter of which came from Shanxi Province.

(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2007)