Top Ten News Stories of China’s Coal Industry in 2025 Released
Recently, the China National Coal Association (CNCA) and China Coal News jointly selected the Top Ten News Stories of China’s Coal Industry in 2025, which are as follows:
General Secretary Xi Jinping Inspects Shanxi and Issues New Instructions on High-Quality Development of the Coal Industry
'Building a Strong Energy Country” Proposed for the First Time in the Five-Year Plan Proposal
Stable and Effective Coal Production and Supply in China
Accelerated Improvement of the Coal Industry Policy Support System
New Version of the Coal Mine Safety Regulations Promulgated
Large Coal Enterprises Deepen Strategic Restructuring and Asset & Business Integration
Quality and Speed of Intelligent Coal Mine Construction Improved
Significant Enhancement in Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization Capacity
Positive Progress Made in Green and Low-Carbon Transformation of the Coal Industry
International Cooperation of the Coal Industry Reaches a New Level
General Secretary Xi Jinping Inspects Shanxi and Issues New Instructions on High-Quality Development of the Coal Industry
From July 7 to 8, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, President of the People’s Republic of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected Shanxi Province. He pointed out that building a national comprehensive reform pilot zone for the transformation of resource-based economies is a strategic task assigned by the CPC Central Committee to Shanxi. It is necessary to further unify thinking, maintain resolve, and promote transformation development in a firm and orderly manner.
Key efforts should focus on energy transition, industrial upgrading and moderate diversified development. On the premise of shouldering the national responsibility of ensuring thermal coal supply, the coal industry should be promoted to move from low-end to high-end, and coal products from primary fuels to high-value-added products. Meanwhile, aiming to build a high-level national important energy and raw material base, supporting energy development such as wind power, photovoltaic power and hydrogen energy should be carried out to build a new energy system. Solid steps should be taken to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and emerging industries and future-oriented industries should be deployed in light of local conditions to develop new productive forces, gradually forming a modern industrial system that reflects Shanxi’s characteristics and has comparative advantages.
2. “Building a Strong Energy Country” Proposed for the First Time in the Five-Year Plan Proposal
The Proposal of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, proposed accelerating the building of a new energy system. It calls for continuously increasing the proportion of new energy supply, promoting the safe, reliable and orderly substitution of fossil fuels, striving to build a new power system, and building a strong energy country. It also emphasizes strengthening the clean and efficient utilization of fossil fuels, advancing the transformation and upgrading of coal-fired power and the substitution of bulk coal, accelerating the improvement of market and price mechanisms adapted to the new energy system, actively and steadily advancing and achieving carbon peaking, implementing the dual control system for total carbon emissions and emission intensity, deepening energy conservation and carbon reduction retrofits, and promoting the peaking of coal and oil consumption.
This has pointed out the direction and drawn a blueprint for the high-quality development of the coal industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. It requires the industry to formulate a high-quality 15th Five-Year Plan for coal development, set reasonable planning targets and indicators, scientifically plan a number of major reform policies, accelerate the clean and efficient utilization of coal, orderly promote low-carbon transformation throughout the coal life cycle, and promote synergistic effects of pollution and carbon reduction in the industry. It also calls for optimizing the layout of coal production and development, reasonably determining the pace and sequence of coal production, guiding enterprises to organize production scientifically in accordance with market demand on the premise of ensuring safe and stable coal supply, and promoting the stable operation of the coal market.
3. Stable and Effective Coal Production and Supply in China
The 2026 National Energy Work Conference held on December 15 stated that in 2025, energy security was effectively guaranteed, and the results of supply guarantee were the best since the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Stable coal production, supply and prices were achieved, effectively coping with 20 instances where power loads during peak summer periods exceeded last year’s peak values.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to November, China’s raw coal output of industrial enterprises above designated size reached 4.4 billion tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.4%. The Sixth Member Congress of the China National Coal Association held on December 10 revealed that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China’s cumulative coal production exceeded 23 billion tons, accounting for 66% of total primary energy production. At present, the number of coal mines in China has been reduced to less than 4,300, the average single-mine capacity of operating coal mines has increased to 2 million tons per year, and per capita production efficiency has reached 1,860 tons per year. China has 83 mines with an annual capacity of 10 million tons, with a total capacity of 1.36 billion tons per year, and 1,238 safe and efficient coal mines with a total capacity of nearly 3.6 billion tons per year. The output of safe and efficient coal mines accounts for more than 70% of the national coal output, significantly enhancing China’s independent coal supply capacity.
The 2026 National Energy Work Conference revealed that China’s raw coal output in 2025 is expected to exceed 4.8 billion tons, coal imports will be about 470 million tons, and reserve production capacity of more than 90 million tons per year will be built. The coal supply margin will remain at a reasonable level and supply flexibility will continue to increase.
4. Accelerated Improvement of the Coal Industry Policy Support System
In 2025, a series of coal-related policies were successively introduced, accelerating the improvement of the coal industry policy support system.
On November 24, six departments including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the Benchmark and Baseline Levels for Key Areas of Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization (2025 Edition), driving a significant improvement in the clean and efficient utilization capacity of the coal industry.
In 2025, clean and efficient coal utilization continued to focus on breakthroughs in clean coal-fired power generation, coal chemical industry, and clean bulk coal combustion.
On October 15, the Liaoning Datang International Fuxin Coal-to-SNG Project, a national energy strategy key project and the first coal-to-synthetic natural gas (SNG) project in Northeast China, made breakthrough progress, with its first phase fully completed and put into operation. The project will be constructed in three phases, with a total annual output of 4 billion cubic meters of coal-to-SNG.
In August, coal tar-based coal-derived aerospace kerosene jointly developed by Shaanxi Coal Group and the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation completed a 1,030-second long-duration hot test on a 130-ton LOX/coal-derived kerosene rocket engine with a swing nozzle.
In May, the first domestic 350MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired generating units—the 2×350MW intelligent cogeneration units project of Tongliao Power Investment Power Generation Company, a subsidiary of State Power Investment Corporation in Inner Mongolia—officially entered commercial operation. Compared with original units, the new units can save 270,000 tons of standard coal, save about 7.891 million tons of water, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 864,000 tons annually.
A series of press conferences on “High-Quality Completion of the 14th Five-Year Plan” held by the State Council Information Office revealed that 95% of China’s coal-fired power units have achieved ultra-low emissions. The coal chemical industry in China is developing in coupling with new energy, accelerating its low-carbon transformation, and forming a reasonable structure of mutual complementarity and coordinated development with natural gas chemical and petrochemical industries.
5. New Version of the Coal Mine Safety Regulations Promulgated
On August 4, the Ministry of Emergency Management issued Order No. 17, announcing the new version of the Coal Mine Safety Regulations (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations). The Regulations will come into effect on February 1, 2026.
The Regulations consist of six parts: General Provisions, Coal Mine Geology, Underground Coal Mines, Surface Coal Mines, Occupational Hazard Prevention and Control, and Emergency Rescue, along with a Supplementary Provision, totaling 777 articles. The Regulations stipulate that coal mining enterprises must appoint technical leaders and establish corresponding safety production management institutions based on the type and extent of hazards, production capacity, and scale, while developing and implementing a sound safety technology management system. Coal mining enterprises must strengthen safety production management, establish and improve a comprehensive responsibility system for safety production by all employees, as well as a responsibility system for occupational hazard prevention and control. Coal mining enterprises and mines must provide safety production education and training to their employees. Employees who have not passed safety production education and training are not permitted to work at their posts. Coal mining enterprises and mines are encouraged to actively promote the use of automation and intelligent technologies and equipment, and to support the development of mining products and the application of advanced, applicable technologies and processes
6. Large Coal Enterprises Deepen Strategic Restructuring and Asset & Business Integration
In 2025, several large coal enterprises carried out strategic restructuring and asset and business integration, further optimizing their industrial structure and layout.
On December 20, China Shenhua announced a plan to acquire equity stakes in 12 core enterprises under its controlling shareholder, China Energy Investment Corporation, through a combination of share issuance and cash payment, with a total transaction consideration of133.598 billion yuan. The restructuring covers key energy sectors including coal production, pithead coal-fired power, coal chemical industry, and coal logistics. Upon completion of the transaction, China Shenhua’s total assets will increase by more than200 billion yuan, and core indicators such as recoverable coal reserves, annual output, and installed power generation capacity will all rise substantially. This restructuring has substantially resolved the 20-year horizontal competition issue between China Shenhua and China Energy Investment Corporation, and established a more complete closed-loop industrial chain of “coal, power, coal chemical and logistics”.
According to an announcement released by Shenma Co., Ltd. on November 10, the company received a letter from Pingmei Shenma Group informing that on November 7, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of Henan Province had signed a framework agreement for strategic restructuring with Henan Energy Group and Pingmei Shenma Group. Under the agreement, Henan SASAC plans to capitalize its 100% equity stake in Henan Energy Group into Pingmei Shenma Group at the appraised fair value. Upon completion of the capital increase, Henan Energy Group will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pingmei Shenma Group.
On September 12, Shandong Energy Group held a kick-off meeting for the integrated development of its modern logistics and trade industry, aiming to build a modern logistics and trade industrial ecosystem that is closely coordinated with the real economy, highly efficient and reliable, and capable of sustained innovation. On May 12, the group convened a working meeting on the integration of its geological exploration and equipment manufacturing industries, arranging and deploying the second-phase integration of geological exploration and the integration of the high-end equipment manufacturing sector.
7. Quality and Speed of Intelligent Coal Mine Construction Improved
In 2025, the development of intelligent coal mines picked up speed and improved in quality, with in-depth progress made in unmanned transportation and artificial intelligence applications.
Up to now, the capacity of intelligent coal mines completed nationwide accounts for more than 55% of the total coal mining capacity. The number of intelligent coal mining faces across the country has increased from 494 in 2020 to 1,930.
As of March 2025, China had built 66 national-level intelligent demonstration coal mines and more than 200 provincial-level (or central enterprise-level) intelligent demonstration coal mines.
On May 15, the world’s first fleet of 100 autonomous electric mining trucks was put into operation at Huaneng Yimin Open-pit Coal Mine, marking that China’s mine autonomous driving technology has moved from experimental trials to large-scale application. To date, nearly 4,000 autonomous mining trucks have been operating regularly in China’s open-pit coal mines, and seven open-pit coal mines are equipped with fleets of more than 100 autonomous mining trucks. Over 2,300 autonomous mining trucks operated by Yikong Zhijia have been in regular service.
In 2025, the intelligent rapid coal quality inspection technology of China Energy Investment Corporation has been promoted and applied across the entire coal industry chain. The “AI + Multi-level Transparent Geology for Mines” developed by China Coal Technology & Engineering Group Corp was selected into the first batch of 40 strategic high-value AI application scenarios for central enterprises by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council. Shandong Energy Group, in cooperation with Huawei, has developed 86 AI technology application scenarios. The “Underground Operation Post Risk Identification Model for Coal Mine Personnel” of Shaanxi Coal Group was included in the sixth batch of national “AI Industry Innovation Scenario Application Cases”. At present, the coal industry has more than 20 large models with actual application scenarios
8. Significant Enhancement in Clean and Efficient Coal Utilization Capacity
In 2025, research and development on the clean and efficient utilization of coal continued to focus on clean coal-fired power generation, coal chemical industry, and clean bulk coal combustion.
On October 15, a major national energy strategic project and the first coal-to-natural gas project in Northeast China — the Liaoning Datang International Fuxin Coal-to-Natural Gas Project — achieved a major breakthrough, with the full completion of its first-phase construction. The project is to be built in three phases, with a combined annual output of 4 billion cubic meters of synthetic natural gas from coal.
In August, coal-tar-based coal-derived aerospace kerosene jointly developed by Shaanxi Coal Group and the Sixth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation completed a 1,030-second long-duration hot test on a 130-ton LOX-coal-derived kerosene rocket engine with a gimbaled thrust chamber.
In May, China’s first 350MW-class ultra-supercritical coal-fired generating units — the 2×350MW intelligent cogeneration unit project of Tongliao Power Investment Power Generation Company under SPIC Inner Mongolia Company — was officially put into commercial operation. Compared with the original units, the new units can save 270,000 tons of standard coal, about 7.891 million tons of water, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 864,000 tons per year.
According to a series of press conferences on “High-Quality Implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan” held by the State Council Information Office, 95% of China’s coal-fired generating units have achieved ultra-low emission. China’s coal chemical industry has developed in conjunction with new energy, with its low-carbon transformation accelerating steadily. Modern coal chemical industry has formed a rational structure of mutual complementarity and coordinated development with natural gas chemical industry and petrochemical industry.
9. Positive Progress Made in Green and Low-Carbon Transformation of the Coal Industry
In 2025, positive progress was made in the green and low-carbon transformation of the coal industry.
On December 1, China’s first demonstration project for high-value comprehensive utilization of 10-million-ton coal gangue—the ceramsite pilot line of the Datong 10-million-ton coal gangue comprehensive utilization project—was officially completed and put into operation, providing a new solution for the transformation and upgrading of national resource-based cities and the construction of “zero-waste cities”.
A research team from the Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Peking University, found that introducing extremely trace amounts of halogen compounds into syngas can precisely control the reaction pathways on the surface of iron-based catalysts, shutting down the reaction pathways that produce carbon dioxide and achieving “zero emissions” of carbon dioxide. This solution overcomes the global challenge of high carbon emissions in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and is expected to provide a new path for decarbonization of China’s coal chemical industry.
On November 11, the pilot test project of the 4-million-ton annual carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) demonstration project of Yulin Chemical Company, a subsidiary of Shaanxi Coal Group, achieved the first successful injection at Well Yutan 1, marking the full completion of the project’s entire process.
The 2026 National Energy Work Conference revealed that in 2025, coal mine methane utilization exceeded 6 billion cubic meters.
The Sixth Member Congress of the China National Coal Association held on December 10 revealed that at present, China’s raw coal washing rate has reached 68%, and the comprehensive utilization rates of coal gangue and mine water are 74.1% and 74.2% respectively. The raw coal production energy consumption of large enterprises has dropped to 7.9 kg of standard coal per ton, the land reclamation rate has reached 57%, and the air quality and water quality in mining areas have been significantly improved.
As of August 2025, China has built 1,055 national-level green mines and 4,865 provincial-level green mines. Among them, the proportion of national-level and provincial-level green mines in the coal industry both exceed 20%.
10. International Cooperation of the Coal Industry Reaches a New Level
Since 2025, cooperation between China’s coal industry and world energy organizations, governments, associations and enterprises of major coal-producing countries has reached a new level.
From October 28 to 31, the 21st China International Coal Mining Technology Exchange and Equipment Exhibition was held in Beijing, attracting more than 1,200 well-known coal machinery manufacturing enterprises from 17 countries and regions, with over 150,000 visitors and an exhibition area of over 160,000 square meters.
From June 23 to 25, the 2025 World Intelligent Mine Conference was held in Qingdao, Shandong Province, with more than 1,000 experts and scholars from over 20 countries attending. After full exchanges and consultations, all experts reached relevant consensus on promoting the development of intelligent mines—the “Qingdao Consensus”.
From June 11 to 12, the 18th China International Coal Conference was held, where domestic and foreign guests conducted in-depth discussions on hot topics in the coal industry.
On May 14, the Ganqimaodu-Gashu Sukhait Railway, an important energy cooperation channel between China and Mongolia, broke ground. This is the second cross-border railway between China and Mongolia built nearly 70 years after the completion of the Erenhot-Zamyn Uud Railway in 1956. The railway is responsible for transporting coking coal imported from Mongolia to China, with an annual transportation capacity of 30 million tons. The Chinese section is invested and constructed by China Energy Investment Corporation and is scheduled to be completed and opened to traffic in 2027.
(Source: China National Coal Association)
