The Chinese government’s efforts to crackdown on unsafe workplaces appears to be having an effect, with the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) reporting a 24.7 percent decrease in occupational accidents over the past year.
There were 47 major workplace accidents in January 2017, resulting in 189 deaths -- down 16.1 percent and 15.2 percent from January 2016. In China, an accident killing more than 10 people, injuring over 50 or resulting in more than 50 million yuan (about 7.2 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses is classed as major.