BEIJING, July 25 (Reuters) - A Chinese coal mine manager has been jailed for life and the owner jailed for 20 years after a gas blast killed 26 people, Xinhua new agency said.

The mine, in Linfen in the northern province of Shanxi, had ignored an order to halt production for a safety check after a deadly explosion in a nearby colliery when the accident happened in March, Xinhua said.

"There was no proper ventilation system in the mine's northwestern section...leading to the accumulation of gas and the blast," the news agency said.

Manager Zhou Linggen was jailed for life. Mine owner Zhou Xiaogen was sentenced to 20 years and fined 3 million yuan ($396,700). Three others received jail terms of between five and eight years, Xinhua said.

China has vowed to clean up its coal mining industry, the world's deadliest, in which 4,746 miners died in 2006. It has shut down small collieries and imposed stricter criminal penalties for accidents.

But mine owners tend to push production beyond safety limits in the face of soaring demand and profits driven by the booming economy. Official protection and collusion are often involved in the lucrative business.

Shanxi produces a quarter of the country's coal, generating an army of ultra-rich peasants-turned "coal bosses" in the dirt-poor province.

Xinhua said Zhou Xiaogen bought his coal mine for 18.5 million yuan ($2.45 million) in November, while an average farmer in Shanxi made a little more than 3,000 yuan last year.

AlertNet news is provided by