Despite a doubling of domestic coal production over the past decade, it has not kept up with soaring demand. As a result, China’s coal imports increased 30 % last year, and as coal prices surged, the value of coal imports rose 60 %. Despite the rapid growth, coal imports in 2010 reached 170 million tons which only accounts for 5 % of China’s total energy consumption. Although coal production is a minor aspect of the Chinese economy, it has profound global impacts. China is now the world’s second-largest coal importer after Japan, and during 2000–2008 China accounted for about 75 % of growth in global coal demand. Import growth was especially high in 2008–2009, when demand for coal outside Asia contracted sharply due to the global recession. Coal provides about 70 % of China’s primary energy consumption, and crude oil about 18 %. The volume of China’s crude oil imports
increased 17 % last year, accounting for 7 % of China’s total energy consumption.
China is now the world’s second-largest coal importer
