China's coal-rich province posts double-digit economic growth

TAIYUAN, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- North China's Shanxi Province, a major coal-producing region of the country, reported double-digit economic growth in the first three quarters of this year, official data showed.

Shanxi's gross domestic product totaled nearly 1.56 trillion yuan (about 243.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-September period, up 10.5 percent year on year, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

Shanxi, an important energy and industrial base in China, saw the industrial output of large enterprises with an annual business turnover of at least 20 million yuan increase by 14 percent during the period, 2.2 percentage points faster than the national average.

Shanxi has increased coal production to meet rising market demand this year, with the output of raw coal increasing by 11.6 percent in the nine months. The province also transmitted 23.1 percent more electricity to other parts of the country.