BEIJING, Jan. 24  -- Accident deaths per 100 million yuan (12.9 million U.S. dollars) of gross domestic product was 0.558 in 2006, down 20.3 percent from the previous year, Chinese authorities announced on Wednesday.

According to a government plan, accidental deaths per 100 million yuan of gross domestic product should drop by 35 percent by 2010 from the level in 2005.

Addressing a national work safety conference on Wednesday in Beijing, an official of the State Administration of Work Safety said accident deaths per 100 million yuan of GDP was 0.02 in the UK, 0.05 in Japan and 0.04 to 0.06 in the United States, Australia and France.

"So we still have a long way to go," he said.