China will strive to produce about 4.8 billion tonnes of coal next year, state media CCTV reported on December 16, citing the National Energy Administration (NEA).

China churned out 427.98 million tonnes of raw coal in November 2024, up 1.8% year on year and 3.93% month on month, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. It produced 4.32 billion tonnes of coal in the first 11 months, 1.2% higher than the year-ago level.

The government will orderly approve and construct a number of large-scale modern coal mines with high level of intelligence and safety standards, while continuing to boost clean and efficient utilization of the fossil fuel, according to the NEA.

China will continue to diversify energy layouts and accelerate the construction of a new energy system next year, it said.

China will also focus on advancing deep underground, deep-sea, and shale oil and gas resources. The country aims to produce over 200 million tonnes of crude oil and maintain a rapid increase in natural gas production.

Regarding the power industry, China will aggressively promote the utilization of wind and solar power. It will push forward the construction of the second and third batches of large-scale wind and solar bases in desert, Gobi, and wasteland areas. Efforts will also be made to develop offshore wind power and distributed solar and wind power.

In 2025, China plans to add around 2,000 GW of wind and solar installations, with renewable energy consumption exceeding 1.1 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent, the NEA said.

In terms of nuclear power, China expects to approve and construct a series of coastal nuclear power projects. Operational nuclear power capacity is anticipated to reach about 650 GW by the end of 2025.

Furthermore, in a bid to prompt the new power system, China will carry out special actions including optimizing the regulation capability of the power system, promoting high-quality development of distribution grids, and upgrading new-generation coal-fired power plants.

The government will also accelerate the development of virtual power plants and conduct pilot applications for large-scale vehicle-to-grid interaction, it said.