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A photo series showing Chinese miners covered in soot has gone viral on social media in the country.

The series shows coal miners from east China's Anhui province after work, their faces blackened with soot.

They posed for a picture with their wives, before washing up and taking another.

Credit: Xie zhengyi/Imaginechina

This composite picture shows photos of a Chinese coal miner and his wife after and before he went down into a coal mine in Huaibei city, east China's Anhui province, 3 May 2016. An interesting photoseries has gone viral on Chinese social media showing netizens just what a good hard day's work looks like. Ten workers at a coal mine outside of Huaibei city, Anhui province sat down to take pictures with their wives right after coming out of the mine, wearing overalls, helmets and a thick layer of black soot. Then, they left for the bathhouse. After washing up, they returned to pose for another picture. The pictures have attracted nearly 200,000 comments on NetEase, with many saying that society should afford more respect to the miners, and the government should raise their salary. However, quite the opposite has been happening recently. Earlier this year, China announced that it was cutting 1.8 million jobs in state-owned coal and steel industries, though some believe that number could soon rise as high as 5 to 6 million. Only a few weeks later, thousands of workers at a coal mine in Heilongjiang took to the streets to protest months of unpaid wages, marching through the streets with banners reading: "We must live, we must eat" and "CCP pay us our money."Credit: XIE ZHENGYI/IMAGINECHINA

Credit: XIE ZHENGYI/IMAGINECHINA

SEE ALSO:Coal mine accident in northern China kills 19

The series has attracted hundreds of thousands of comments on social media sites like Netease and the Twitter-like Weibo, with many saying miners should be given better salaries and rights from the Communist government.

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One commenter said the workers face hazardous conditions, and should be paid better.

Another said the photos show which miners wore dust masks while working and which didn't, and noted that managers should enforce health rules more stringently.

The photos come on the back of the Chinese government announcing in March its plans to lay off as many as 6 million workers in the coal and steel industries.

Weeks after the announcement, workers in the coal belt of Heilongjiang put up a street protest against unpaid wages, and held up banners saying "CCP pay us our money," referring to China's ruling Communist Party.

Credit: XIE ZHENGYI/IMAGINECHINA

Credit: XIE ZHENGYI/IMAGINECHINA

Credit: XIE ZHENGYI/IMAGINECHINA

Credit: XIE ZHENGYI/IMAGINECHINA

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