China has set a goal of reducing coal mine fatalities by 3.5 percent year-on-year in 2006, announced the head of the state work safety watchdog in Beijing on Sunday.

The country will also reduce the number of accidents by 7 percent this year, said Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS).

"Given the grave situation, we did not set an ambitious goal, "said Li, adding "even this will take a great effort to realize."

Chinese coal mines are considered to be the deadliest in the world. China reported over 3,300 accidents which killed nearly 6,000 miners in 2005.

Li said China will strengthen the work safety management in all kinds of coal mines this year, especially in the large state-owned coal mines. More efforts will be made in preventing underground coal mine flooding and gas explosion, he stressed.

According to SAWS, China will take declining of the death rates in coal mines, traffic accidents and other production accidents as an important measure in examining the work of local authorities in 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2006)