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A Chinese State owned company has reported that it has sold the first intelligent machine of coal extraction national built, capable of operating without the help of human workers.

The Corporation of coal mining machinery TZ Shanxi, based in the northern Chinese province of Shanxi, rich in coal, said that on Monday had sold three sets of such machinery to Chinese companies.

The equipment, consisting of machines designed to dig, transport and processing coal, can be supervised and controlled by a single technician from the surface, according to Cao Keshun, company spokesman.

Machines can produce 10 million tons of coal per year at a single vein, which is equivalent to the capacity of between 50 and 100 workers, added Cao.

In 2012, 1.384 people died in mining accidents in China, which means that 37 workers killed per 100 million tons of coal produced, according to the State administration of work safety.