Over 27,700 dead, missing in China workplace accidents in 2013

Over 27,700 people in China were killed or went missing in workplace accidents in the first half of the year, work safety authorities said today.
The figure represented a drop of 13.9 per cent compared with the same period last year, said Wang Dexue, deputy head of the State Administration of Work Safety.
A total of 226,048 workplace accidents took place during the same period, down 3.8 per cent from the first half of 2012, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying.
Wang said work safety is still a major problem, as negligence by local work safety supervisors has led to frequent industrial accidents in China, particularly in the country's mining industry.

A fire that killed 119 people at a poultry plant in northeast China's Jilin Province in June raised concerns about work safety conditions and led to a nationwide work safety overhaul.