Several ministry-level departments, including the National Coal Mine Safety Administration, State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Health Commission, have responded recently to issues of public concern.

Regulation limits number of workers at coal mines

The National Coal Mine Safety Administration said on Jan 9 that it has issued a regulation limiting the number of workers working in a single shift at coal mines.

The regulation, which divides coal mines into seven tiers based on production capacity, stipulates that the number of workers working in a single shift at coal mines where work safety risks are high cannot exceed 850. The limit for other coal mines is 450.

The regulation, which will take effect this month, also imposes limits on the number of workers in individual work units at coal mines.

The administration said coal mine enterprises will be required to make their production plan in accordance with the regulation, and local authorities should step up safety checks.

Coal mines that fail to abide by the regulation will not receive approval to increase their production capacity. Those that do not meet its requirements in 2021 will be closed, the administration said.

Crackdown on health product scams launched

China’s market regulator said on Jan 9 that it has launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on wrongdoing in the health product market.

The three-month campaign was launched by the State Administration for Market Regulation together with 12 other central government departments.

The administration said that during the campaign, law enforcement officers will focus on food, equipment, daily necessities, small home electrical appliances, wearable articles and service producers that claim to promote health. Violations such as false advertising, the sale of counterfeit and low-quality products and illegal direct selling and pyramid selling will be targeted.

The move follows the launch of an investigation last month into Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Development, a health product company based in Tianjin, that was accused in an online report of making exaggerated claims in advertisements and being involved in a pyramid scheme. After the investigation by local authorities, 18 suspects, including the chairman and founder of Quanjian, were detained on suspicion of organizing a pyramid scheme and engaging in false advertising.

Statistics bureau takes aim at falsification of data

The National Bureau of Statistics will step up efforts to prevent and punish the falsification of data and other fraudulent practices in an effort to ensure the authenticity of data, the bureau’s head, Ning Jizhe, said on Jan 10.

Ning said the bureau will launch a supervision campaign targeting statistical work this year to punish illegal practices and improve the quality of statistics.

It will enhance inspection and law enforcement, expand the exposure of wrongdoers and hold them accountable, Ning said at a national work conference.

There were 27 illegal statistical cases exposed around the country last year, and 118 firms found guilty of serious doctoring of data were punished.

China introduced an updated detailed guideline for implementing statistics laws in 2017 to prevent data fraud.

2020 target date for better hospitals in poor regions

China will step up poverty alleviation efforts in the healthcare sector and ensure all medical institutions at various levels in impoverished areas reach set standards by 2020, a National Health Commission spokesman said on Jan 10.

As part of poverty reduction efforts, high-level hospitals will help their county-level counterparts in poor regions build up their talent, and each township-level institution will have one general practitioner by 2020, spokesman Hu Qiangqiang said.

The commission will make efforts to ensure that telemedicine services cover all township-level hospitals in poor regions. Breast and cervical cancer screening for women living in rural areas and screening for newborns in poor areas will see further progress, he said.

More incentives will be offered to medical professionals working at grassroots-level hospitals, and individuals who are impoverished by major or chronic diseases will receive greater compensation, Hu said.