The unprecedented move is a signal the Chinese government is prepared to take serious action to address the deadliest mining industry in the world where safety violations and overproduction are common.
Liu Guoqiang is one of eight vice governors of the province and is responsible for industrial safety. He lost his job after a meeting of China's State Council to improve work safety.
Liu becomes the first high-ranking official to lose his job since the cabinet introduced the "take the blame and resign" policy last April.
According to China Daily, China Coal Information Institute president Huang Shengchu said the suspension would shock some local officials and coal mine owners.
The mine blast at a colliery in Liaoning owned by the state’s Fuxin Coal Industry Group was China's worst in half a century.
