Coal production falls 14.5pc

The mainland's coal production dropped 14.5 per cent year on year to 107.64 million tonnes in the first two months of this year, according to state media.

Beijing plans to reduce its dependence on coal from about 72 per cent to 50 per cent of its energy needs by 2050, Xinhua said.

It aims to lower production of coal to 900 million tonnes this year following a peak of 1.3 billion tonnes in recent years.