China has drawn up guidelines for new coal projects, the latest move to control expansion, raise efficiency and cut emissions by the industry, the country's top planning body said on Thursday.

The guidelines, published on the Web site of the National Development and Reform Commission, also support development of large-scale coal miners and consolidating medium and small-sized miners, as well as encouraging long-term contracts among coal miners, transporters and consumers.

The guidelines came as Chinese miners and power generators began negotiating 2008 prices for coal, which are expected to rise as much as 10-20 percent, partly due to other fees and a railway bottleneck.

China will stabilise the scale of coal production in the eastern part of the country and strengthen construction of large-sized coal bases in the central region, while speeding up the exploration and modest development in the western part, the guidelines said.

New and upgraded coal mining projects in Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi regions should have an annual capacity of at least 1.2 million tonnes, the guidelines said.

The projects in Chongqing municipality and Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces should have annual capacity of at least 150,000 tonnes, the guidelines said.