A miner from North China's Shanxi Province diagnosed with a serious work-related disease known as silicosis has been forced to accept just half of the compensation that a court had ordered his former company to pay him, the Beijing Times reported Sunday.

Under the intermediation of the district people's court of Nanjiao in Datong last week, Zhong Guangwei, 35, accepted the 270,000 yuan ($40,469) compensation from his former employer Zhulinsi coal mining company, which had refused to pay the 490,000 yuan ($73,444) compensation that the court had originally determined early this year.

"I can't hold on any longer," Zhong said to the Global Times Sunday.

"I need money to treat my disease, to pay back family debts, to pay for my two daughters' tuition fees and support my family," he added.

Silicosis is an occupational disease common in mining caused by breathing in tiny particles of crystalline silica dust. Complications include lung cancer, tuberculosis and respiratory failure.

Zhong developed some serious symptoms including coughing soon after he took the job drilling holes in the rock for the private company in 2006.

He said he had continued working for 10 hours a day for almost a year even after the symptoms appeared, making 6,000-7,000 yuan ($899-$1,049) per month. He was diagnosed with silicosis in 2008 and subsequently sued his former employer.

It was reported that Zhong had to go to the court prior to this lawsuit because the local labor authority refused to recognize his employment status with the company as he had failed to provide a work contract, the report said.

Last September, he asked for 530,000 yuan ($79,440) in compensation from the company.

The court ordered the company to pay Zhong 490,000 yuan ($73,444) in compensation, but Zhong did not receive any of it.

In July, the court decided to enforce its decision by selling the mine's equipment, only to find the mine had been closed and the owner had already sold off the equipment.

The court then decided to hold a public hearing in which Zhong was forced to accept the sum that his former employer agreed to offer.

It is estimated there are 1 million people who suffer from lung diseases caused by the inhalation of dust in China, and half of them are coal mine workers, said Beijing-based Workers' Daily this May.