China¡¯s world-beating coal production has helped shield its economy from the worst of the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø shock. Now the deadliest mining disaster in years is raising uncomfortable questions about the cost of that drive.
The privately owned Liushenyu mine, in the coal-belt region of Shanxi, produces mostly coking coal, meaning it would probably supply steelmakers, not power plants. A midsized outfit, it produced a fraction of the region¡¯s annual total.
But Friday night¡¯s blast, which left at least 82 dead, is already prompting a response which belies the scale of that operation.
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