Li Yizhong, China's work safety chief, says he hopes to be the most neglected person in the ministerial lineup.

"It's better for me to stay out of public attention," Li told a press conference in late December, explaining that media coverage of him is always a euphemism for deadly workplace accidents.

The 62-year-old Li has been endeavoring to curb rampant workplace accidents since he was named minister of the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) in February 2005. However, a convincing victory seems far away for the man known as the "busiest minister in China."

Official statistics show that Li, who has made it a customary practice to personally inspect all workplace accidents, had an exhausting agenda in 2007, despite a drop in the number of accidents and deaths.

According to SAWS, about 457,000 accidents were reported from January to November 2007, a year-on-year decrease of 22.4 percent. The number of accident deaths fell to 88,923, down 14 percent. However, the death toll from 83 serious accidents, each of which killed 10 people or more, still hovered at 1,380.

Li has reiterated on many occasions that government officials' dereliction of duty and collusion with business people were significant causes of some accidents. Now, he has new weapons for the ongoing fight against this.

In the wake of a spate of major coalmine disasters, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced last December that officials who take advantage of their posts to obstruct accident probes could be demoted, sacked or expelled from the Party. It also stipulated that severe punishments would also be imposed on those who try to save people responsible for workplace accidents.

Sources with the State Council's Legislative Affairs Office also revealed that several laws, including the Mine Safety Law, the Coal Law and the Coalmine Safety Inspection Regulations, are scheduled for revision in 2008, in addition to the formulation of the long-awaited Emergency Regulations on Work Safety.

As more than 50 state decrees covering various aspects of workplace safety are now in place, China's goal of establishing a relatively comprehensive work safety monitoring scheme by 2007 has been achieved. Li may have reasons to expect an easier year in 2008.