China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced earlier this week that they have shut down 2,173 "inefficient" coal mines with a mining capacity of 230.61 MT in 2010. The Chinese government has also set a target to reduce deaths per million metric tons of coal produced by more than 28 percent in the five years through 2015, according to a document they published earlier this month. These coal mining shake-downs could lead to greater coal imports. "Some production may suffer because of increased safety concerns, especially in the south where a lot of these accidents happened," David Fang, a director at China Coal Transport and Distribution Association, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "That may drive up imports by coastal regions." Long term import growth still strong As a result, few doubt the long term Chinese import dynamics seen in 2011 will reverse. Imports from Vietnam, Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and Mongolia all increased in 2011.