Coal checkpoint near Beijing closes on Monday

A major checkpoint for coal supplies from Shanxi province, which accounts for one-quarter of the country's reserves and output of the fuel, will close on Monday as part of government efforts to improve coal transportation and distribution.

TheTaiyuan-JiuguanHighwayRoadCoalandCokeSupervisionStation,attheborderofShanxiandHebeiprovinces,isthelastcheckpointforvehiclesheadingtoHebei,whichalmostcompletelysurroundsBeijing.

Thestationisoneofthemanycoalandcokeinspectionpointsthathavehelpedmanagethesaleandtransportationoffuelsuppliesformorethanthreedecades.Butrecentmediareportshaverenewedconcernsovertherisksofbriberyandunreasonableandunnecessaryfeesatthecheckpoints.

Authoritieshavepushedtoreducethenumberofthesecheckpointstolowercostsforcoalproducersandstreamlineadministrativeproceduresamidweakdemand.

CheckpointinspectorFuAhong,37,andtwoofhiscolleaguesdirectedthetrucksintotheTaiyuan-JiuguanstationonNov29,checkingthecoalandcokesuppliesbeforelettingthemthrough.Fu'sjobincludesinspectingtheweightandsalespermitsofthefuelsupplies.Finesareimposedonthosewithoutpermits.

Thestationwassetupin1995tolevytaxesonthefuelsuppliesaswellasinspectdeliveriesforanyillegalcoalandcokestocks.Suppliesthatwerenotaccompaniedbysalespermitscouldresultinfinesrangingfrom20yuanametrictonto50yuanatonforcoal,saidHuBaoxing,headoftheTaiyuan-JiuguanHighwayRoadCoalandCokeSupervisionStation.

Upto5,000vehiclestransportingcoalwouldpassthroughthestationinadayduringpeaktimesinthepast,buttraffichasdroppedtoabout2,000vehicles,Husaid.

TruckdriverFanZhimaosaidthatthereisatleastonecoalinspectionstationatthecountylevel,andthatthoselikehimwhodeliverthefuelpassthroughmorethanoneofthem.Stationscanbefoundthroughoutaprovince,saidFan,whotransportscoalfromShanxitoHebeiprovince.

Anothertruckdriver,MouXizhong,saidheneedsabouttwodaystotransportcoalfromShanxitoShandong.

"IwillpassthroughmorethanfourorfiveofthestationsonmywaytoShandong.OnelessstationcancutthetimeIspendwaitinginlines.Icansaveatleastthreehoursthatway.Icanalsosaveonfuelcosts,"Mousaid.

Shanxi'scoalandcokeproducershavealsobeenhitbyweakdemandandlowprices,whichplungedafterthefinancialcrisisin2009.