Coal mine accidents in China killed 2,433 miners last year, 7.5 percent less than one year earlier, State Administration of Work Safety spokesman Huang Yi said on Friday.

Further, the number of work-related fatalities in China last year totaled 79,552, a 37.4 percent decline from 2005, Huang told a press conference.

Huang said the State Council, or China's Cabinet, issued a notice last year to further strengthen work safety around the country.

As a result, a procedure was formed in which the Cabinet will directly supervise the handling of major accidents that occur in the country, and it raised the efficiency of major accident settlements by 17 percent, he said.

Until now, 41 out of 74 major accidents in China last year have been settled.

He noted that one of the administration's important tasks this year would be to take precautions to prevent major accidents.