The government will spend 3 billion yuan (US$361 million) this year to improve safety at state-owned coal mines.
"We must have a strong sense of responsibility to the people and truly make coal mining safer," Premier Wen Jiabao said in Beijing on Saturday.
The premier linked the production safety issue with the maintenance of social stability and the building of a "harmonious society" - something the country's top leaders are most concerned about.
Statistics from the State General Administration of Work Safety showed that throughout a total of 6,027 people were killed in 3,639 coal mine accidents last year.
State-owned coal mines, which once had a comparatively better safety record than private mines, have been hit by a string of deadly disasters since late last year. Three major gas explosions - at Daping Mine in central Henan Province, Chenjiashan Mine of northwestern Shaanxi Province and Sunjiawan Mine of northeastern Liaoning Province claimed 148, 166 and 214 lives respectively.
In recent years, a severe energy strain caused by rapid economic growth has prompted coal mines across the country to produce beyond quotas, largely at the expense of safety.
Meanwhile, industry insiders said the safety facilities in many mines were seriously outdated. It will cost at least 50 billion yuan to comprehensively upgrade the safety facilities in state-owned mines alone, the experts said.
A beijing-based mining safety expert told Xinhua on Saturday that he believes the 3 billion yuan will mainly be used to resolve the coal bed gas problem. Gas explosions have turned out to be the "top killer" in the nation's coal mines.
The following is a list of major coal mine accidents that have occurred across China since the beginning of 2004.
February 23, 2004: A gas explosion killed at least 32 miners at Baixing Mine under the Jixi Coal Mining Group of northeastern Heilongjiang Province.
March 1, 2004: A gas blast killed 28 miners at the Jinshanpo Township Coal Mine in Jiexiu City, northern Shanxi Province.
March 12, 2004: A gas explosion killed 14 miners at a village coal mine in Bijie City, southwestern Guizhou Province.
April 30, 2004: A gas explosion killed at least 34 miners at state-owned Liangjiahe Mine in Linfen City, Shanxi Province.
June 15, 2004: A gas blast killed 21 miners and 2 rescuers at No. 1 Coal Mine under the Huangling Mining Group of northwestern Shaanxi Province.
October 20, 2004: A gas explosion killed 148 miners at Daping Mine under the Zhengzhou Coal Mining Group of central Henan Province;
November 11, 2004: A gas blast killed 33 miners and injured six others at Xinsheng Mine in Pingdingshan City, Henan.
November 28, 2004: A gas explosion killed 166 miners at Chenjiashan Mine under Tongchuan Mining Administration of Shaanxi.
December 1, 2004: A gas blast killed 16 miners at a mine in Panxian County, Guizhou.
December 9, 2004: A gas explosion killed 33 miners at Daxian Mine in Yuxian County, Shanxi.
December 13, 2004: A mine shaft fire killed 18 miners at Xinli Mine in Xiangtan County, Hunan Province.
February 14, 2005: A gas blast killed 214 miners at Sunjiawan Mine under the Fuxin Mining Group in northeastern Liaoning Province.