BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) - A Chinese court has jailed a coal mine owner for 20 years after a blast that killed 28 miners, the official People's Daily reported on Wednesday as officials claimed some easing in the torrent of industry deaths.

A court in Shanxi province in the nation's north found Hao Yingjie responsible for a major accident and guilty of illegally dealing in explosives and illegal mining.

Hao's unlicensed mine in Linfen, a heavily polluted city, was shattered by a blast in May that tore through unventilated shafts where gas had built up. As well as the dead, two miners remain missing, presumed dead.

China's coal-mining industry is the world's deadliest, with 4,746 workers killed in accidents in 2006, as many owners pushed production beyond safe limits to take advantage of soaring coal prices driven by the booming economy.

The country has been struggling to clean up its mines, but local officials often have ties to owners, hampering such efforts, and closed mines often reopen without permits.

On Monday, the State Administration of Work Safety reported that in January-June 2007 coal mine deaths fell by 299 compared with the same period last year. That meant about 2,090 coal miners were killed up to the end of June.

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