Shanxi mine disaster casts shadow over province’s shift from coal to culture

Shanxi, China’s top coal-producing province, has attempted to rebrand from a polluting, high-risk mining hub into a cultural and tourist destination. However, the country’s deadliest mining accident in nearly two decades has cast a shadow over this image.On Friday, a devastating gas explosion at the coal-mine" class="entity-link entity-location" data-entity-id="132580" data-entity-type="location">Liushenyu coal Mine in Shanxi killed at least 82 people. The disaster, which industry insiders said was a result of systemic safety failures, has drawn attention to the safety, governance and regulatory challenges plaguing the coal-sector" class="entity-link entity-topic" data-entity-id="134359" data-entity-type="topic">coal sector.A day before the accident, provincial leaders announced at a meeting about Shanxi’s next five-year development plan that the province would “steadily and in an orderly manner advance its transformation and development”.