China to tighten work safety supervision

China on Monday pledged tighter supervision of work safety and an improved official accountability system in the wake of a major industrial accident last week. The State Council, China's Cabinet, vowed to tighten work safety supervision in high-risk sectors including coal mining, fireworks, dangerous chemicals, roads and transportation. It was agreed at a plenary meeting of the Cabinet's Work Safety Commission that China will continue to create unified safety standards nationwide and improve emergency assistance and risk prevention capabilities. The promises follow the deaths of 33 people in an explosion on May 20 in a three-story workshop of a plant owned by Poly Explosives (Jinan) Co., Ltd. in Zhangqiu City of east China's Shandong Province. China's top procuratorate is investigating whether duty-related crimes may have contributed to the deadly blast. According to official data, at least 291 people have been killed in fireworks accidents over the past two years.