CHINACOAL GETS OPERATION APPROVAL

THE Chinese authorities have given Chinacoal Insurance the go-ahead to begin business in the coal-rich province of Shanxi. The company will operate out of the province’s capital Taiyuan. It counts as its largest shareholder The Shanxi Provincial Social Security Bureau for Coal Industry, which invested Yuan100m to take a 20% stake. Fourteen other shareholders contribute to the insurer’s Yuan500m capital. According to a report from SinoCast, Shanxi accounted for a quarter of China’s coal production in 2005 – around 540 million tons. However, it reported a rising injury and death rate for the coal mining in the past few years.