As a result, at the end of 2018 China increased imports of all types of coal by about 0.7% compared to 2017 (uptick from 279 to 281 million tones) still being the frontrunner in terms of its production: about half of all coal produced in the world accounted for China. For most of 2018, steam coal imports to China was on the rise: perhaps this was due to a reduction in coal production in China itself. In some parts of the country the winter of 2017-2018 turned out to be extremely cold, which put an increased strain on thermal power plants and spurred Chinese coal consumption. This is, however, just a tiny fraction of the Chinese electric system. In 2017, all coal power plants and boiler facilities in Beijing and nearby Hebei Province were shut down.

As a result, while those countries can boast of relatively clean water and air some Chinese regions have accumulated such a concentration of hydrocarbon exhaust products that they pose a real threat to public health.ДЄ few years ago China embarked on major reforms in energy sector aiming to drastically reduce its domestic coal production, implement mass transition from coal to natural gas, build a great amount of nuclear power stations in lieu of coal power plants that were to be decommissioned. Chinese industry meets the needs not only of its own country, but also of all those countries that, first for the sake of cheap labor, and then for the sake of environmental protection, shifted their production capacities to the Chinese territory. Meanwhile China is worried by environmental issues.

Although China is also the worldвЂ™s leading coal producer, it needs to be its main importer as well. About 50% of all coal burnt on our planet is burnt in China. China is the worldвЂ™s biggest coal consumer.

The long dark coal