2.2.3.1 Availability and Consumption

For a long time coal has been the major part in China's energy production and consumption. In the 1950s, it accounted for 90% in the total primary energy production and consumption. Afterwards, with the development and utilization of petroleum, natural gas, hydropower and nuclear energy, the proportion of coal declined gradually but still kept a ratio of over 70% . At the end of 1996, coal constituted 74.8% in the energy production and 75% in the energy consumption. This shows that coal is the major primary energy in China and this situation will keep unchanged for a long time to come.   

In the 1950s , coal demand and supply was in a balanced situation. Later on in a long period the contradiction of coal demand and supply became more and more prominent along with the increasing demand for coal, and the coal production was constantly in a strained situation. Since China's reform and opening up, as a result of bringing into the initiative of the coal industry at both the central and local levels and carrying out the policy of developing simultaneously large, medium and small sized coal mines, mines of various categories have developed rapidly and the coal output has grown by a large margin. Consequently, the tension in short supply which lasted for many years has been eased to a certain degree and the demand for coal arising from the rapid development of the national economy has been met. During this period, driven by the economic return coal mines of collective ownership in towns and townships developed in a swift and violent way, leading to an excessive coal mining. In 1980 the coal output of the small mines of collective ownership was only110 million tons but increased to 610 million tons in 1996. Meanwhile, many factors such as the adjustment in economic structure , the development of low energy consumption industries, and the strengthening of the sense of production cost and the energy-saving concept caused the slowdown of the rate of increase in coal consumption. Since 1990, such phenomena as overproduction, supply exceeding demand and high storage have happened in the coal industry(Table 2.2.9).

In 1997 the national total output of coal was 49 million tons less than that of 1996. This was the result of the active measures taken to suit the market demand by mines and enterprises and the government's effective rectification of small mines against illegal and unlawful operation. Now the coal production, with sufficient source of supply, better transportation and enough storage, can meet the increasing demand of the development of national economy. At the same time rectification should be maintained for setting up a good production order to stop the illegal operation. In this way we can adjust the supply and demand to a normal level and realize the basic balance in total supply and demand.

Table 2.2.9 Coal output, consumption and storage 1990~1996(¡Á106 t)

In the national total coal consumption, in the 1950s the consumption of the coal used for industrial production and economic accounted for over 50% and the coal for civil use over 40%. In the 1990s, the consumption of the coal for the production and construction increased by a large margin and that of the coal for civil use declined gradually. In 1995, the total consumption of the coal for the production and construction reached 90.2 %, of which, the consumption of the coal for thermal power generation increased to 31 %, that of the coal for coking made up 12.9 % and that of the coal for railway transportation reduced to 0.9%. From this we can see that the major task of China's coal production in the future is to meet the requirement of the production and construction and guarantee the sustainable and sound development of the national economy.   

From 1949 to 1997,China altogether exported 346.47 million tons of coal, most of which was  power generating coal, and imported 65.06 millions, mainly of anthracitic coal. In 1997, China's coal export exceeded 30 million tons to reach 30.72 million tons, obtaining an income of US $ 1.133 billion. The coal export consisted of 22.24 million tons of power generating coal, 4.6 million tons of  coking coal, 2.12 million tons of anthracitic coal and 1.76 millions of coals of other ranks. Comparing with that of 1996, the coal export increased 1.72 million tons, gaining an additional income of US $ 24 million. In 1997, the coal import was 2 million tons, costing China US $ 96 million. Comparing with that of 1996, the import reduced 1.22 million tons causing a decrease of US $ 50 million in China's foreign exchange expenditure(Table 2.2.10).

Table 2.2.10 Coal import and export in 1991~1997

China's coal is mainly exported to Japan(12.44 million tons), the Republic of Korea(8.9 million t),Xianggang (Hongkong)(1.34 million t), Italy(590,000 t), France(470,000 t), India(360,000 t), the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(250,000 t), the Philippines(230,000 t), Romania(210,000 t), Russia(190,000 t), Malaysia(180,000 t), Indonesia(130,000 t), Belgium(110,000 t).   

China imports coal mainly from Australia(1.34 million tons), South Africa(230,000 t), Russia(200,000 t), New Zealand(130,000 t), Viet Nam(50,000 t)and Korea(40,000 t).

2.2.3.2 Trend

Coal consumption is in direct ratio to the level of economic development. In the economically well-developed eastern region of China, the consumption of coal is enormous and increases annually at a high rate. But the coal production in the overwhelming majority of the provinces ( municipalities and autonomous regions ) is insufficient to meet the demand and therefore the transfer of coal from other provinces and regions is necessary. In the central and western regions of China, the consumption of coal is comparatively small, and most of the provinces ( autonomous regions ) are not only self-sufficient in coal but also able to spare a certain amount of the coal produced to transfer to and assist coal-short provinces and regions. At the end of 1997 there were 10 provinces ( autonomous regions ) whose coal production exceeded coal consumption and which were able to transfer coal outward. These provinces ( autonomous regions ) and the amounts of coal they transferred outward respectively ( in parentheses) are Shanxi ( 154.51 million tons ), Henan ( 18.88 million tons ), Inner Mongolia (18.34 million tons ), Shaanxi ( 15.80 million tons ), Heilongjiang ( 12.87 million tons ), Xinjiang ( 7.28 million tons ) Guizhou ( 3.86 million tons ) , Anhui ( 2.58 million tons ), Ningxia ( 1.89 million tons ) and Sichuan ( 1.76 million tons ). All other provinces ( municipalities and autonomous regions ) need to make up their dificiencies in coal supply with coal transponted from outside.

In the light of the distribution characteristics of China's coal resources and on the basis of a comprehensive consideration of the level of economic development and coal supply-demand situation in different provinces, the whole country can be divided into 3 supply-demand regional zones. The first zone is the eastern regional zone of inward coal transfer, which covers Northeast China, eastern Inner Mongolia, Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, East China, and Central-South China. This regional zone is characterized by the high level of economic development, great demand for energy and relative shortage of coal resources. It is the key coal-producing as well as prime coal-short region in the country. In the long run, the inward transfer of coal from outside the region is the only way to settle the contradiction between the supply and demand of coal in the regional zone. The second zone is the central regional zone of coal supply, which embraces Shanxi, Shaanxi and western Inner Mongolia. In this zone coal resources are very abundant with coals complete in variety and excellent in quality and coal production is significant and grows at a fast speed. However, due to the relatively slow rate of economic development here, the consumption of coal is not significant and so plenty of coal is available for outward transfer to other parts of the country. The third zone is the western coal self-sufficient and reserve regional zone, consisting of Southwest China, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia. In this regional zone perspective coal resources are very abundant but are poorly verified. Located at the westmost corner of the country, this regional zone is in an unfavorable position for the outward transportation of its coal products. As the economic development is slow in the regional zone, both its coal production and consumption are quite limited. While it is self-sufficient in coal, this zone still has a small amount of surplus coal for outward transfer. This region will serve as a reserve base for the future development of coal production.

The development and utilization of coal resources have contributed a great deal to the development of China's national economy but at the same time have brought about a significant impact to the ecological environment. As a rule, the opencast coal mining results in the complete disappearance of all the farmland and vegetation within the limits of the mine pit, while underground coal mining causes surface collapse, water logging and soil salinization. In China the area of ground collapse caused by the mining of every one million ton of coal amounts to 2,000 m2. Water draining is necessary in the process of coal mining. Thus, every year the coal mining industry discharges 2.2 billion m3 of pit water from mines and 30 million tons of waste water from coal washeries, leading to a loss of 0.3 million tons of coal sludge and the pollution of over 400 rivers and streams. Coal gangue is the main waster residue in coal mining. In 1996 about 180 million tons of rock waste were disposed, leading to an aggregate pilled storage of 3 billion tons. As a result of coal mining, 7.7 billion m3 of methane are discharged into the air every year. Coal mining operations also cause serious noise pollution. The noise in 70 percent of the mine pits in North China exceeds 90 dB. The smoky gases and dust grains produced in the process of coal burning are the principal types of atmospheric pollutants in China. In 1995 China's discharge of SO2 reached 23.70 million tons and that of smoky dust amounted to 17.40 million tons. It was estimated that 85 £¥ of the SO2 and 70 % of the smoky dust discharged resulted from the burning of coal. Out of the 821 million tons of CO2 discharged in the same year, about 85 % came from the burning of coal.

In order to minimize these harmful effects to the least possible extent, Provisional Regulations for Environmental Protection Management of the Coal Industry was promulgated in 1983. Shortly afterwards, environmental protection offices were established in the State and local departments in charge of the coal industry and environment protection monitoring stations were universally set up in the State-owned key coal mines. Hence, in the recent years great progress has been made in the environmental protection work of the coal industry and remarkable success has been achieved in bringing "three wastes"( waste water, waste gas and waste residue ) under control. In most coal mining districts waste water purification stations have been set up with 90 % of the mine water discharged in conformity to the standards and the closed circulation of coal sludge water has been realized in over two-thirds of the coal dressing plants; in the coal mining districts with high contents of gas ( with CH4 as its main component ) gas pumping and discharging stations have been set up, thus achieving a triple gain of safety in production, environmental protection and fuel supply; refuse hills and coal gangues have been party brought under control and multipurpose utilization; the techniques for comprehensive control of collapsed areas are now being actively popularized. The rule that evaluation should be made prior to construction has been strictly observed in case of building new coal mines and rebuilding or extending old coal mines. In the process of constructing a project, the facilities for the prevention and control of pollutants are commonly designed, built and put into operation simultaneously with the principal part of the project. Consequently, the new mines have universally succeeded in increasing production without the increase in pollution and some of them are striving for the increase in production coupled with the reduction of pollution.

China's coal industry in the future will be operating under the conditions of a socialist market economy. Therefore, it must adhere to the market-oriented principle, take economic performance as the key link and strive to maintain a basic balance between supply and demand. Coal mining enterprises must change the way they operate, deepen the restructuring, speed up the establishment of the modern enterprise system and make efforts to upgrade the dominating position of the State-owned sector of economy in the coal industry. Meanwhile, effective measures must be taken to give greater freedom to and revitalize medium-sized and small state-owned coal mining enterprises, improve the overall quality of town and township collective coal mines so that they may gain sound development along the orbit of running mines according to law, and promote the development of coal mines of all types of ownership in a coordinated way to guarantee the supply of coal necessary for the national economic and social development.

To develop coal production by relying on scientific and technological advances is an effective way to improve labor productivity and economic performance. The main subjects of research and development for a period to come will be the technologies for high yield, high efficiency and high degree of safety, technologies for coal cleaning, technologies for the development of coal-bed gas, technologies for coal transformation, technologies for environmental protection of coal mines, technologies for pipeline conveyance of coal, etc. The successful development of these key technological will surely bring along a comprehensive technological progress of the entire coal industry, promote coal enterprises to develop into enterprises with high yield, high economic performance, high degree of safety in production, high-quality products, clean environment and comprehensive utilization of coal, make the coal industry a basic industry of the nation successful in environmental protection. All this will be conducive to narrowing the gap between China and advanced coal mining countries and the gap between the coal industry and other industries in China, shifting the development of coal production onto an orbit of relying on scientific and technological progress and improving the quality of laborers and realizing the sustainable development of the coal industry.