Official state media outlet Xinhua quoted State Administration of Work Safety director Yang Dongliang on a campaign that will focus on small mines in “serious violation of the law”

“The designs of most small mines are substandard and their mining techniques are outdated, so they don’t have sufficient capability to ensure safe mine production,” Yang said.

The crackdown will target mines without required licences, mines that produce after official stop orders and mines that operate outside of their approved capacity.

Yang said the campaign will eliminate mines that use outdated and unsafe techniques or “encourage” them to acquire state-of-the-art mining techniques.

The move follows a rash of recent coal mine disasters in the country, most recently including the death of ten workers who fell more than 200m from an overturned platform above a deeply flooded shaft in Gansu province.

Two gas blasts this month in Jiangxi and Sichuan province coal mines claimed the lives of 59 men.

An official investigation into the Sichuan’s Xiaojiawan mine disaster blamed “chaotic management” and “sheer ignorance” of safety protocol for the death of 44 miners.

Police have detained the owners of the mine and SAWS said those who were found responsible would receive due punishment.

A government initiative to reduce hazardous mines has resulted in the closure of more than 9000 small coal mines since 2006.