China Cuts Coal Production and StockpilesChina is taking active measures to cut coal production and reduce huge stockpiles in a bid to strike a balance between coal supply and demand and keep annual coal output within 900 million tons this year.According to Zhang Baoming, director of the State Administration of the Coal Industry, China has so far closed down 33,000 illegal small coal mines nationwide, and cut coal production by 300 million tons. Addressing a televised telephone conference Wednesday, the senior official said the coal supply exceeds demand in the country at present, causing serious losses in the sector. He noted that China is planning to close down another 18,900 small coal mines this year and cut coal production by 120 million tons. In addition, large state-owned coal enterprises will take steps to produce according to market demand, adjust their product mix, and lower production costs in a bid to turn losses into profits. So far, effective results have been scored in the provinces and autonomous regions of Shanxi, Henan, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and other coal-producing areas. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |