Environmental Protection Minister Chen Jining said during the ongoing annual session of the National People's Congress that the air pollution in the country is caused mostly by the irrational energy structure, or more specific, coal burning.

"We have attached great importance to the adjustment of energy structure. The Chinese government is now promoting low emission projects in coal-fired power plants."

"The widespread smog in China has increased the pressure for clean use of coal," said Wang Xianzheng, president of the China National Coal Association. "In the long run, the growth rate of coal consumption in China will drop. However, the total volume of the consumption will keep increasing as China speeds up in industrialization and urbanization."

CNC statistics showed that by 2020, China's coal consumption will reach 4.8 billion tons, up 1.2 billion tons from 2013.

According to Wang, developing clean-coal technologies is one of the most effective method for China's environmental woes because the country relies heavily on imported petrol and natural gases and new-energy use still accounts for a relatively low percentage in the total energy structure.