Coal in China

China is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world and is the largest user of coal-derived electricity. The share of coal in the energy mix declined during the 2010s, falling from 80% in 2010 to 60% in 2017. Domestic coal production also decreased with a year on year decline of 9% in 2016. However, imports of coal increased to compensate for the cuts to domestic coal production. Overall electricity consumption continued to rise in the 2010s, and new coal fired power plants were constructed to help meet demand. China is the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world and is the largest user of coal-derived electricity. The share of coal in the energy mix declined during the 2010s, falling from 80% in 2010 to 60% in 2017. Domestic coal production also decreased with a year on year decline of 9% in 2016. However, imports of coal increased to compensate for the cuts to domestic coal production. Overall electricity consumption continued to rise in the 2010s, and new coal fired power plants were constructed to help meet demand. To curtail the pace of coal fired power plant construction, in 2017 National Energy Administration canceled coal fired power plant permits that would have amounted to 120 GW of future capacity. However, local authorities seeking to create jobs resisted the efforts of central authorities to cut back. Based on analysis of satellite photos in 2018, environmental NGO Global Energy Monitor claims that 259 GW of new coal power plant capacity is under construction including plants that central authorities had canceled, postponed or slowed down. As of 2019 China is also building coal-fired power stations in other countries, which is incompatible with limiting global warming to 2°C, the target of the Paris Agreement on climate change. As of the end of 2014, China had 62 billion tons of anthracite and 52 billion tons of lignite quality coal. China ranks third in the world in terms of total coal reserves behind the United States and Russia. Most coal reserves are located in the north and north-west of the country, which poses a large logistical problem for supplying electricity to the more heavily populated coastal areas. At current levels of production, China has 30 years worth of reserves. China is the largest coal producer in the world, but as of 2015 falling coal prices resulted in layoffs at coal mines in the northeast.