North China's Shanxi Province is expected to turn out 550 million tons of coal this year, accordingto Shanxi Provincial Coal Industry Bureau.

About 400 million tons of the coal will be sold outside of Shanxi with an expected sales revenue of 140 billion yuan (16.87 billion US dollars), according to the bureau.

Coal mine safety measures should be improved to prevent tragedies. The accident rate should be kept below one death per million tons of coal mined, according to another target listed by the bureau.

China's energy consumption has increased dramatically in recent years, boosted by increased demand from manufacturing industries.

Last year China produced 35 percent of the world's coal but reported 80 percent of the deaths worldwide from mine accidents.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2005)