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Phoebe Zhang

Disciplinary authorities in central China are investigating a county-level Communist Party chief following a coal mine gas blast that killed 82 people and left two missing.
Zhao Yongjin, party secretary of Qinyuan county in Changzhi, was “suspected of serious violations of discipline and law”, the Shanxi provincial discipline inspection and supervisory commission, an anti-corruption watchdog, said on Tuesday night.
The blast at the Liushenyu Coal Mine on May 22 was China’s deadliest mine accident in over a decade and Changzhi authorities later accused mine owners of “serious violations of the law”.
Preliminary investigation results have exposed severe safety problems at the site, with systemic failures across multiple parts of the production chain.


Miners and industry experts previously said the mine appeared to be poorly managed, with ill-equipped workers, illegal mining activities and several past security fines.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for a thorough investigation and accountability. He stressed that authorities must learn from the accident and intensify efforts to eliminate workplace risks.
Zhao, 52, is from Changzhi and has worked in the city for many years, according to public records.
In 1993, he started working as a general staff member at what was the Changzhi Rural Economic Management Bureau and climbed through the ranks.
In 2003, Zhao was appointed deputy head of Qinyuan county. Over the decades, he became a member of the county’s party standing committee and director of the publicity department, rising to county party secretary in 2021.
At his 2021 appointment ceremony, Zhao told provincial and city officials he would “strive to find a new path for Qinyuan’s transformation” and “never fail to live up to the expectations of the people”.
The transformation Zhao referred to appeared frequently in official documents and media reports as the county pushed to upgrade the county’s traditional coal mine industry and find greener alternatives.

In 2025, an article from Science Bulletin, run by the Shanxi Association for Science and Technology, said Qinyuan county had been using coal-bed methane, once regarded as industrial waste, to generate electricity.
Other projects were exploring clean energy by using photovoltaic panels and developing new materials, it said.
Qinyuan long boasted abundant mineral resources, especially coal, according to its official website, with an estimated 12.8 billion tonnes of coal reserves.
The county operated 30 coal mines with a combined production capacity of 35.2 million tonnes per year, the article added.
Months before the blast, Zhao visited the Liushenyu mine.
He observed real-time footage of underground mining operations from a dispatch room and asked detailed questions about its production capacity, output and safety management, the government said in a press release in December.
In February, during a conference involving Qinyuan county and the Shanxi division of the National Mine Safety Administration, Zhao spoke of a “need to sound the alarm bell and prevent risks”.
“We must remain highly vigilant against major problems such as prolonged stability leading to accumulated malpractices,” he said at the time.


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Preliminary investigation results have exposed severe safety problems at Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan county in China’s central Shanxi province. Photo Xinhua

Zhao Yongjin was appointed party secretary of Qinyuan county in Changzhi, Shanxi province, in 2021. Photo: Sohu

Are systemic safety failures to blame for China’s deadly mine blast?

Rescuers enter a mine shaft on Sunday after a gas explosion at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in China’s Shanxi province on Friday evening. Photo: Xinhua

Medical staff take care of an injured worker at a hospital in Qinyuan county in central China’s Shanxi province on Saturday following a deadly mine blast. Photo: Xinhua

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A worker sorts coal near a mine in Datong, Shanxi province – a city that also boasts a growing tourism industry. Photo: AFP

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Rescue workers at the scene at the Liushenyu Coal Mine in Qinyuan county, Shanxi province, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

The accident at the Liushenyu site was one of the worst in more than a decade. Photo: CCTV

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China

Politics

Zhao Yongjin inspected the Liushenyu Coal Mine just a few months before the country’s deadliest mine incident in over a decade


Zhao Yongjin inspected the Liushenyu Coal Mine just a few months before the country’s deadliest mine incident in over a decade.


Communist Party politics

Xi Jinping

In China’s coal country, party chief called to account after fatal safety failures

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Zhao Yongjin inspected the Liushenyu Coal Mine just a few months before the country’s deadliest mine incident in over a decade

Zhao Yongjin inspected the Liushenyu Coal Mine just a few months before the country’s deadliest mine incident in over a decade