Shenhua Group Corp, China's biggest coal company, increased production of the fuel by 22 percent last month from a year earlier, beating its target.

The state coal producer raised output to 27.2 million tons, from a target of 24.45 million tons, Shenhua Group said in a statement on the Website of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission yesterday. Coal sales rose 10 percent to 27.6 million tons, it said.

(Shanghai Daily February 6, 2009)