Officials removed as mining probe goes on

Two top officials of Haixi prefecture, Qinghai province, have been removed from their posts for dereliction of supervision duty on illicit mining in Muli coal field in Qilian Mountains, the provincial government announced at a news conference on Sunday.

An investigation by the provincial discipline inspection commission showed that Liang Yanguo, a member of the Party committee of the prefecture, and Li Yongping, head of the Muli coal field management bureau, saw the duo removed from their posts and put under further investigation.

The Economic Information Daily reported that since 2006, the local Xingqing company has excessively mined the coal field, south of the Qilian mountains, by more than 25 million metric tons, under the disguise of ecological restoration, creating around 15 billion yuan ($2.15 billion) of profit.

Another three officials from local supervision departments in Haixi have also been removed from office and put under investigation.

Other officials from the prefecture’s government, the Qaidam circular economy pilot zone that oversees the mountains, the natural resource department and the ecology and environment department are also being investigated.