SHANGHAI, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Four workers have been trapped by flooding in a coal mine in eastern China, the Xinhua news agency said on Thursday.

The accident occurred on Wednesday when 16 miners were working at the mine in Jiangxi province, Xinhua said, adding that 12 miners managed to escape.

Four miners remained trapped in the Qunfa coal mine as rescuers pumped water out of the mine.

Local officials ordered the mine to suspend production in November after finding flooding risks during an inspection, but mine managers continued sending miners down, Xinhua said.

Chinese mine owners often flout safety regulations to meet insatiable demand for a fuel powering the country's booming economy.

China's coal industry is the deadliest in the world, with 2,163 miners killed in 1,320 accidents in the first seven months of 2007.

A coal mine flood in eastern China's Shandong province in August is believed to have killed 181 miners in one of the country's worst mining disasters in recent years.

(Reporting by Charlie Zhu; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

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