The first-ever expo focusing on the nation's coal industry will be held September 16 to 18 in North China's Shanxi Province, when coal producers from across the globe will meet to discuss various aspects of the industry.

 

Co-organized by the Shanxi provincial government and the Ministry of Commerce, the China (Taiyuan) International Coal and Energy Expo will be important for future development of the country's coal industry, said Gao Hucheng, vice-minister of commerce.

 

He noted that coal, which accounts for about 70 percent of China's energy mix, will continue to be the nation's most important energy resource.

 

North China's Shanxi Province is the nation's largest coal producing region.

 

In addition to further development of its traditional coal industry, the province will also develop other coal-related resources such as coalbed methane and coal-to-chemicals, said Yu Youjun, governor of the province.

 

The province, which has the country's largest coal reserves, produced 580 million tons of coal last year, a growth of 7 percent over the year previous, according to provincial authorities.

 

China consumed 2.46 billion tons of coal equivalent last year, up 9.3 percent from 2005, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

 

In January the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published the outline of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10) for the coal industry, saying that China's coal output is expected to reach 2.6 billion tons in 2010.

 

According to the NDRC outline, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and the Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui autonomous regions remain the major sources of coal, and production in these areas should be expanded.

 

According to the plan, more large-scale coal production bases will be established and the nation will develop six to eight coal-mining groups, with an output of 100 million tons, and 8 to 10 companies with an output of 50 million tons.

 

By the end of the previous five-year plan (2005), there were two firms in China with an annual output of 100 million tons and three firms with an output of 50 million tons.

 

The nation has also made the plans for its coalbed methane industry and coal-to-chemical industry. According to a draft of the medium- and long-term plan for the coal-to-chemical industry, China will invest more than 1 trillion yuan in development of the industry by 2020.

 

The nation will also increase the development and use of coalbed methane to meet rising demand for energy, said a five-year plan for the coalbed methane industry developed by the NDRC.

 

(China Daily March 3, 2007)