Coal industry digs for solutions

Big change needed to tackle smog

China's coal producers saw a decline in both profitability and investment in overseas countries amid gloomy domestic demand and competition from imported coal, industry insider said on Wednesday.

Zhao Anqing, vice-president of the China National Coal Association, said during the Eighth Chinese Enterprises Outbound Investment Conference that about one-third of Chinese coal enterprises suffered losses in 2013, impacted by cheaper imported coal.

"Coal producers in China are large but not strong with their overseas investment falling rapidly in recent years, so they need to adjust their strategies to deal with a drop in demand," he said.

Chinese companies are looking to buy overseas coal mines, as China switch to cleaner fuels stokes demand for higher-quality coal produced by countries such as Russia and Australia.

But Zhao noted that among all the coal firms on a hunt for acquisition, only 40 percent have succeeded in buying overseas assets due to a lack of understanding the local culture and economic environment.

Last year, China imported 327 million metric tons of coal, accounting for more than 9 percent of the country's consumption, while coal exports reached 7.5 million tons, data from the China National Coal Association showed.