China’s Inner Mongolia to probe corruption of 20 years in coal industry

Authorities in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have vowed to thoroughly investigate malpractices regarding coal resource development over the past 20 years, which local officials said had become the biggest "tumor" for the local political ecology.

The investigation is part of the region's campaign against coal resource-related violations that was launched at a meeting in the regional capital Hohhot on Friday.

"The campaign is a vital political task given to the region from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China," Shi Taifeng, chief of the Party's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Committee, said at the meeting.

Shi noted that issues such as illegally obtaining, trading, and unlawful allocation of coal resources had seriously polluted the region's political ecology.

Inner Mongolia regional authorities will investigate project planning, investment reviews, resource allocation and environmental audits of all coal mines in the region conducted from 2000 until the present day, the People's Daily reported on Tuesday.

The region will also investigate all projects related to coal resource development launched in the region in the past 20 years and punish civil servants, including those since retired, who have violated laws related to coal development.

There are 523 mines in Inner Mongolia whose combined capacity is estimated to be 1.3 billion tons per year.

As a vital coal-producing region in China, violations related to coal development were revealed gradually after four senior regional officials were investigated and punished for corruption, including former secretary of the Hohhot Party committee Yun Guangzhong.

The total amount of coal storage in Inner Mongolia was 42 billion tons, accounting for more than one fourth of national storage. The region produced one billion tons of coal in 2019.