Li Yizhong and Zhao Tiechui are probably the most anxious and busy people in China.

Li, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, and Zhao, head of the State Coal Mine Security Supervision Bureau are dealing with the aftermath of five coal mine accidents that have killed more than 100 people in the last week.

What makes Zhao most furious is that three of the major accidents that claimed dozens of lives all had at least one thing in common: the mine's permits had expired or been revoked.

A conversation between Zhao and the head of the Fuyuan County where 32 miners died reveals the true reasons for the accident.

"Was the mine on the close-down list?" Zhao asked.

"Yes,"the county head said.

"Then why was it still operating?"

"Well, we blockaded it."

"But you didn't blow it up like you were supposed to. If you had destroyed the mine entrance, cut off the power and disassembled and confiscated equipment, there wouldn't have been an accident."

Li also points to the Fuyuan accident as a perfect example of how bad things are.

"With local governments as backstage supporters, unscrupulous mine owners just keep operating illegally."

The local government had closed another smaller mine and claimed they had closed the Changyuan mine where the tragedy occurred.

"It is like replacing one person on the death list with someone else. This is a direct challenge to the authority of state laws and regulations," Li said.

He said an inspection team consisting of members of the Ministry of Supervision, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the All China Federation of Trade Unions found widespread illegal practices.

Condemned mines were re-opened without authorization and production figures were exaggerated to keep small mines open.

China requires coal mines with an annual production capacity of less than 30,000 tons to shut, because many of them are death traps.

Li said the mine in Jixi, Heilongjiang, where 23 miners died at the weekend and four are still missing, had a designed annual capacity of 30,000 tons, but local administrators had certified it as a 60,000-ton mine, allowing it to continue to operate.

The mine in Linfen, Shanxi Province, where 24 miners were killed, was designed to produce 50,000 tons a year but it was certified by local officials to produce 150,000 tons.

This rush to over produce, spurred by greed, was the cause of the accident, Li said.

He said government officials and agencies that lie about production will be severely punished.