On August 4, 2025, the Ministry of Emergency Management of China (MEM) issued the Coal Mine Safety Regulation (hereinafter referred to as “the Regulation”) and announced its implementation date as February 1, 2025. It is one of the key regulations in the coal mine governance system in China.
The Regulation was firstly issued in the year 1992, when back then it did not cover coal mines of small size nor the open pit ones. Then in the year 2011, the 2001 revision of the Regulation combined the requirements of the Safety Regulation for Open Pit Coal Mines (issued in 1993) and the Safety Regulation for Small Coal Mines (issued in 1996) to finally make it a unified and comprehensive regulation for the coal mine sector.
The Regulation is a latest revision based on its 2022 version, and it now a nearly-300-page document with 777 articles and an annex that provides terms and definitions. The basic structure and the main contents of the Regulation include:
• Part one general provisions: Elaborates on the overall guiding principles and basic requirements of the regulations.
• Part two coal mine geology: Involves fundamental regulations concerning coal mine geology.
• Part three underground coal mines: Details safety requirements for all aspects of underground mining from design and construction to production and excavation, as well as ventilation, gas prevention and control, fire prevention and control, water prevention and control, blasting, transportation, electrical equipment, monitoring and communication.
• Part four open-pit coal mines: Covers general regulations for open-pit mining, as well as specific safety norms for operations such as drilling and blasting, loading and excavation, transportation, waste rock disposal, slope stability, water and fire prevention and control, and electrical equipment maintenance.
• Part five prevention and control of occupational hazards: Specifies regulations on occupational hazard management, dust, heat hazards, noise, harmful gas prevention and control, and occupational health monitoring.
• Part six emergency rescue: Includes general provisions for emergency rescue, safety evasion, rescue teams and equipment, command and coordination, and disaster handling.
Comparing with the 2022 version, the main changes of the Regulation include:
• Comprehensively strengthen safety management and supervision.
• Set up a separate chapter for "design and layout of shafts and tunnels"
• Strict requirements for coal mine geological work and comprehensive survey of concealed disaster-causing factors
• Improve and perfect the technical system for major disaster prevention and control.
• Supplement and improve the safety requirements for open-pit coal mines.
• Regulate the application of new technologies, new processes, new equipment and new materials.
MEM attaches great importance to this Regulation and has issued two additional notices at the end of August to emphasize its implementation while announcing the expert list for the follow-up trainings for the implementation. Relevant foreign stakeholders of the coal mine sector, not only the coal mine developers but also the equipment and service providers for coal mines, are advised to make necessary evaluation on the revised contents and take necessary compliance actions.
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