China has made new headway in coal mine work safety with fewer accidents and deaths since the start of this year, said Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety (SACMS), on Tuesday.

This year 512 coal mine accidents have been reported, down 21.2 percent from last year, Zhao said.

Up to now, the number of people who died or were missing in those coal mine accidents stood at 807, down 35 percent year-on-year, he said.

The death ratio per million tonne of coal output fell to 0.502 in the first five months in 2011, down 39.2 percent over the same period last year.

According to the administration's figures, 2,433 miners were killed in coal mine accidents in China in 2010, compared with 2,631 deaths in 2009.