China  plans  to  cap  its  national  coal  output  at no higher than 3.9 billion mt/year in 2020, 

compared with an estimated coal output of 3.3 billion mt in 2016, according to the 13th Five-

Year  development  plan  for  the  coal  industry  released  on  the  website  of  the  National 

Development and Reform Commission on December 30, 2016. 

To  that end, China will eliminate about 800 million mt/year of inefficient coal mining capacity 

in  exchange for about 500 million mt/year of advanced coal mining capacity, according to th

e plan covering 2016-2020. 

The total number of coal mines in China will stand at about 6,000 by the end of 2020. 

Of  that, coal mines with a mining capacity of at least 1.2 million mt/year will account for over 

80% and small mines with a mining capacity of no higher than 300,000 mt/year will represen

t less than 10%. 

As  a  result, combined  coal  output  of  big  coal mining bases will account for over 95% of 

China's national total, the development plan said. 

Currently, there are 5,930 legally registered coal mines with a combined coal mining capacit

y  of  3.58  billion  mt/year in China, according  to figures released by China Coal Trade and 

Development Association in early December 2016. 

For better industry consolidation, big coal miners, especially those in Shanxi province, Inner 

Mongolia, Shaanxi province, and Xinjiang, will be encouraged to merge with each other to fo

rm conglomerates, according to the development plan. 

Additionally, no  new  coal  mining projects will be approved from 2016 to 2018, according to 

the development plan. 

After 2018, only new coal mining projects with a mining capacity of at least 1.2 million mt/year 

may receive approval to be launched.