CHINA

Proved recoverable reserves (total coal, million tonnes) 114 500
Production (total coal, million tonnes, 1999) 1 030.0

China is a major force in world coal, standing in the front rank in terms of reserves, production and consumption, and is rapidly increasing its significance as a coal exporter.

The levels of proved recoverable reserves originally provided by the Chinese WEC Member Committee for the 1992 Survey have been retained for each successive edition; in billions of tonnes, they amount to: bituminous coal and anthracite 62.2; sub-bituminous coal 33.7 and lignite 18.6.

Coal deposits have been located in most of China’s regions but three-quarters of proved recoverable reserves are in the north and north-west, particularly in the provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia.

After more than twenty years of almost uninterrupted growth, China’s coal production peaked at nearly 1.4 billion tonnes in 1996, since when output has fallen year-by-year, largely as a result of the closure of large numbers of small local mining operations. By far the greater part of output is of bituminous coal: lignite constitutes only about 4%.

The major coal-consuming sectors are power stations (including CHP), which accounted for nearly 50% of total consumption (excluding the coal industry’s own use/loss) in 1998, the iron and steel industry with a 15% share, and other industrial users with about 25%.

Coal exports more than doubled between 1994 and 2000, when they exceeded 55 million tonnes; China is now the world’s fifth largest coal exporter.

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