BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China will support and encourage surveying and mining of coal-bed methane, the Ministry of Land and Resources said on Wednesday.

    The country has about 36 trillion cubic meters of coal-bed methane, similar to the amount of its natural gas reserves, according to official data.

    China has more than 20,000 coal mines and generates 15 billion cubic meters of coal-bed methane each year. However, only 15 percent of them are mined every year, sources with the ministry said.

    Apart from optimizing energy use and environmental protection, surveying and mining of coal-bed methane can improve work safety since 80 percent of coal mine accidents, such as gas explosions, are associated with coal-bed methane, the ministry said.

    The ministry has also required local authorities to conduct a full-scale inspection of mining rights of coal-bed methane and report to the ministry before the end of July.