The central government announced only last week that more than 5,000 officials had admitted to illegally investing some 700 million yuan (US$87.5 million) in coal mines.

Some coal bosses said they have decided to shift their investment to other industries, while others have begun to donate money to local residents and public welfare projects with the aim of improving their tarnished images.

Qin Peng, the owner of Nanping Coal Mine in Yangcheng County in Shanxi, plans to invest 500 million yuan (US$62.5 million) in a local scenic spot to help local residents earn money through tourism.

With an annual production of 150,000 tons, Qin's coal mine is the only private colliery in Jincheng that has completely updated its plant.

It has spent money updating its power supply, transport network, and ventilation and water drainage systems, all costing 60 million yuan (US$5.25 million).

The coal mine now has a production capacity of more than 1 million tons a year, Qin said.

In order to protect the interest of State assets in the coal mining industry, Shanxi provincial government has introduced public auctions to sell off coal resources, officials said.

Proved reserves of coal in Shanxi amount to 270 billion tons, 96 billion of which have already been transferred to collieries, statistics show.

And previously, coal mine owners had to pay only low levels of taxation, reports said.

The first coal auction was held in June, with 273.4 million yuan (US$33.7 million) paid for the exploitation rights to seven coal mines bought from the Shanxi Provincial Land and Resources Department.

A total of 16 coal bosses in the province won the right to tap these coal mines, reports said.

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