As Trump brings back coal to power AI, China moves on to clothe the world with it
A once-struggling Chinese coal city turns the traditional fossil fuel into nylon, manufacturing popular fashion from sportswear to lingerie
“Our nation’s beautiful clean coal resources will be critical to meeting the rise in electricity demand due to the resurgence of domestic manufacturing and the construction of artificial intelligence data processing centres,” Trump said in an executive order signed on April 8.
But China has upped its game. In Pingdingshan, a once-struggling coal city in the central province of Henan, coal is no longer just mined and burned – it’s being chemically transformed into nylon, one of the most important and widely used synthetic polymers in the world.
Where the US doubles down on coal as an energy commodity – despite pollution and climate impact, China is unlocking its potential as a critical raw material that adds far more value to the manufacturing production chain than in a boiler.