Following recent protests, authorities in Inner Mongolia announced plans to review local coal mining activities on June 1.Local authorities in China’s Inner Mongolia have launched a month-long overhaul on the coal mining industry which started June 1, according to Inner Mongolia Daily

Pan Yiyang, vice governor of the autonomous region, called for an immediate environmental assessment over the sector, said the newspaper.

Sparked by a death of a herder in early May, several protests erupted in the region calling for stronger oversight in the mining industry’s impact on the local environment and the protection of traditional culture.

In response to the incident, Inner Mongolia’s governor, Bateer, told the official Xinhua Agency that the local government will not ignore the mining activities of companies which damage the environment or seriously affect local life. “We will conduct a thorough probe, and no individual or enterprise shall be spared if violations are found,” said Bateer.

About 4.2 million ethnic Mongolians live in Inner Mongolia, accounting for 17.1 percent of its total population, according to the sixth national census released in early May.

Inner Mongolia is the nation’s top coal producing region with an output of 786.65 million tons of raw coal in 2010, according to the Coal Industry Bureau of Inner Mongolia.

Source:   Caixing Journal

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