A gas blast in a north-east China coal mine has killed 28 people, in the latest incident to damage the industry's notoriously poor safety record.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that 13 others were rescued after the accident at Babao Coal Mine, in the city of Baishan.

Rescue work has finished at the Jilin province mine and the cause of the accident is under investigation.

The mine is a state-owned colliery under the Tonghua Mining Group.

The accident occurred on the same day a huge landslide came crashing down a mountainside in Tibet, burying 83 workers in a gold mining area.

China is the world's biggest consumer of coal, relying on the fossil fuel for 70 per cent of its growing energy needs.

But its mines are among the deadliest in the world because of lax regulation, corruption and inefficiency.

According to official figures 1,973 people died in coal mining accidents in China in 2011, a 19 per cent fall on the previous year.

But labour rights groups say the actual death toll is likely to be much higher, partly due to under-reporting of accidents as mine bosses seek to limit their economic losses and avoid punishment.

AFP