It is reported that Mr Zhang Jian has changed from being owner of a coal mine in north China Shanxi Province to a shareholder of China largest coal mining firm, Shanxi Coking Coal Group Co Ltd.
An order from the National Development and Reform Commission in September required the country top coal producing province to close about 1,600 of its 2,600 mines by the end of 2010 through mergers and reorganizations.
The plan is that each coal mining companies would have an annual production of at least 3 million tonnes and each mine would produce at least 900,000 tonnes in order to end the province reputation for pollution and fatal mining accidents.
The commission said by the end of 2010 all 1,000 coal mines in Shanxi should be mechanized.
Mr Zhang said "As a shareholder, I retain a 35% share in the mine, which is to be developed so it has an annual output of more than 1million tons. He said the merger process has been supervised by the provincial government which had conducted an evaluation of the mine's assets.”
Unlike Mr Zhang, Mr Wang Jianzhen general manager of Sanjia Group a private mining firm in Shanxi has decided to shift its business focus from coal mining to other sectors especially tourism.
Mr Wang said "The coal mining sector which helped start the company has been badly affected by the economic downturn since last year. It was our investment in tourism that has enabled us withstands the crisis."
The company began to diversify 10 years ago. It has invested more than CNY 2 billion to develop Mianshan Mountain in Shanxi into a tourist attraction which turned in revenues of almost CNY 150 million in the H1 year.
