The Way to Transform Yima into 'Baili Coal City'

Once Yimei Coal Group leaped into the coal mine living area, but now people have gone to the empty building. 15 people died and 16 were seriously injured. On July 19, a tragic explosion accident made Yima, a small Henan city with a registered population of less than 200,000, the focus of public opinion.

July 26, after a week of investigation, the Ministry of Emergency Management informed the cause of the accident. Oxygen leakage occurred in the air separation unit of Yima Gasification Plant as early as June 26, but it did not attract attention. Instead, it continued to operate for 24 days with illness, which eventually led to tragedy.

On a social network filled with mourning, a local resident's micro-blog was forwarded: "We first made our fortune from coal in Yima. Later, coal mine accidents combined with the decline of the coal industry, how many coal workers were unemployed. This chemical plant is really supporting the development of Yima in the past two years. Now there's another explosion, and we can't help worrying about the future of Yima.

Looking back on the past of Yima City, the label of resource-based cities is like a shadow. The abundant coal reserves give the city glory, but at the same time, it is also shrouded in the shadow of single economic structure, environmental pollution and frequent safety accidents. Since entering the new century, Yima has tried to develop circular economy, transform its coal chemical industry and cultivate a number of enterprises such as Yima Gasification Plant. However, this attempt, which is called "coal head and tail" locally, has not fundamentally shaken Yima out of the shackles of resource-dependent economic model, and its coal chemical industry, which has first-mover advantages, is also hovering on the low-end product line. With the explosion of the gasification plant, the young city, which was founded in 1981, has added another layer of mist to the future. But to be sure, change is a theme that never goes out of fashion, and the city is always trying to find new opportunities. The name of Yima is derived from folklore. Legend has it that during the Song Dynasty, the village suffered floods, three white horses turned into three white dragons to push back the river, so there was a legend of "Yima rescue village", so the word "Yima" came into being.

Here is a piece of "black land". As early as the Jin Dynasty writer Yuan Haowen's "Xuyi Jian Zhi", there is a record of "Carbon Points Exposed and Grouped with Success". In 1958, Yima Mining Bureau was established. In 1970, Henan Provincial Committee approved the establishment of Yima Mining Area, and in 1981, the State Council approved the establishment of Yima City. In 1997, Yima Mining Bureau was restructured into Yimei Group.

According to the China Urban Statistics Yearbook 2018, Yima is one of the county-level cities with the smallest population in Henan Province. Its registered population is only 167,000, which is one tenth of Dengzhou, the largest county-level city in Henan Province. But on the other hand, "black gold" is everywhere. As of the end of 2009, Yima's proven coal reserves are 7.9 billion tons, which is known as "Baili Coal City". Qianqiu Coal Mine, located in the southeast corner of Yima City, has a long history. According to public information, Qianqiu Coal Mine was put into operation in 1958, which was "the same age" as Yima Mining Bureau, and was awarded one of the ten red flags of the national coal front for its annual output, which set the highest record of the same kind of coal mine in the country. Du Chun (alias) entered Qianqiu Coal Mine in 2008. He recalled that front-line workers could earn more than 6,000 yuan a month. In contrast, the average monthly disposable income of urban residents in Sanmenxia City was only about 1032 yuan in the same period. In addition to mines, Yima also has open-pit mines. An article on Yima Party and Government Network introduced that open-pit mines are rare in the Central Plains. The North Open-pit Coal Mine of Yimei Coal Group is the only medium-sized mechanized open-pit coal mine in Henan Province, which is built entirely with domestic equipment.

An old miner in the North Open-pit Mine told the Beijing News that a small electric shovel was used in the North Open-pit Mine when it came into operation in the 1960s. The pit began on the flat ground and veins appeared 30 meters underground. "A shovel goes down 4 cubic meters, more than a dozen tons."

In order to mine the North Open-pit Coal Mine, Yima Mining Bureau has excavated a large area of farmland for Yima villagers. As compensation, the coal mine absorbs the right age youth from the villagers to work in the mine. In that era when the public ownership economy was dominant, villagers could be said to be "blessed by misfortune". Chai Kuang, an old miner, is 72 years old. In 1969, he relied on the above policy to get rid of his peasant status and became a worker in the North Open-pit Mine. In addition to monthly salary, his work clothes were distributed free of charge in the mine, and he did not need money to see minor illnesses in the mine hospital on weekdays.

Some old North Open-pit miners like to miss the good old days. After the reform and opening up, China's coal industry has experienced a period of rapid expansion. Yima Mining Bureau's output exceeded 10 million tons in 1989, and reached a new level. Old workers in the North Open-pit Mine recalled that the rank cadres in the coal mine had once been "one person, one car".

According to the Sanmenxia Daily, in 2004, Yima City ranked the first in Henan Province in per capita investment in fixed assets, the second in general budget income per capita, and the fifth in GDP per capita. By 2011, the above three indicators, industrial added value per capita and urbanization rate of Yima City ranked first in the province. Behind the glory of coal, there is a shadow. First of all, mine accidents occur frequently. In 2008, Du Chungang experienced a mine accident shortly after he was transferred from the army to Qianqiu Coal Mine. On June 5 of that year, the ground vibration caused by the collapse of the mining area occurred in Mianchi County, Sanmenxia City, with a magnitude of 3.5. Three minutes later, Qianqiu Coal Mine burst ground pressure, resulting in 750 meters to 850 meters of roadway instantaneous protrusion