Longmay Mining is the biggest mining company in northeast China, it is also a the main energy provider to the three provinces in the region. [Photo: agencies]

Provincial authorities in Heilongjiang have come to the rescue of the region's largest coal mine.

The Heilongjiang Provincial government has loaned 500-million yuan to the Longmay Mining Company.

At the same time, it's also set aside another 500 million to help the company through its restructuring, which will include significant lay-offs.

Longmay Mining reported a 5-billion yuan loss last year due to the drop in coal prices and high production costs.

The state-owned firm, which has 240-thousand people on its payroll, has already laid off thousands of employees.

It's planning on cutting another 16-thousand administrative staff by August.

Longmay's difficulties are part of a wider economic slowdown in Heilongjiang.

The northeastern Chinese province only registered growth of 5.6-percent last year, much lower than the national rate of 7.4 percent.

China's northeast, including the provinces of Helongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin, is known as the "rust belt," as it still relies on outdated, state-sponsored heavy industry built in the 1950s and 60s.