China's coal output continues to drop

BEIJING - Coal output in China, the world's largest coal producer, continued to decline in the first ten months of 2015, as the impact of clean air and renewable energy policies began to weigh on the industry, official data showed on Tuesday.

China's coal production fell 3.6 percent year on year to 3.05 billion tons in the first ten months, according to figures from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

In the first ten months, China imported 170 million tons of coal, slumping 29.9 percent year on year.

The country's coal industry has been cooling due to weaker demand in a softening economy and government measures to reduce pollution.

The country aims to bring its share of non-fossil energy to 15 percent by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030.

Coal accounts for about 66 percent of China's primary energy consumption, 35 percentage points higher than the world average.