Suspicious coal mine transaction probed

The transaction of a State-owned coal mine in North China’s Shanxi province which changed hands for a low price is under investigation, the local publicity department said on Thursday.

Set up in Balougou village of Baode county in 1958, the State-owned coal mine was sold for 370,500 yuan ($60,075) by the local economic trade bureau to three buyers in November 2007.

In 2009, the coal mine was sold to another coal company for 260 million yuan. The second transaction became widely talked about, and prompted public speculation about corruption by officials.

On Wednesday, the local government set up an investigation team to probe the transaction as well as the asset evaluation and auction process, the publicity department of Baode government said on Thursday.