Northwestern China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region posted a decline in raw coal output in the first half of the year, while sales rose sharply.

Data from the regional development and reform commission showed January-June raw coal output from mines above designated size totaled 50.31 million tonnes, down 1.8% year on year.

Coking coal production rose 31.5% to 3.39 million tonnes, while other bituminous coal output stood at 46.68 million tonnes, down 3.3%. Anthracite output fell 32.3% to 232,100 tonnes.

Raw coal sales by mines above designated size reached 29.22 million tonnes in the January-June period, up 10.9% from a year earlier. As of end-June, raw coal inventory stood at 3.32 million tonnes.

Power generation in the region totaled 125.54 TWh in the first six months, up 3.7% year on year. Thermal power generation fell 1.4% to 81.72 TWh, while renewable energy output from hydro, wind and solar sources rose 14.8% to 44.28 TWh.