China's coal production drops 17% in June

China produced 277.54 million tons of coal in June, down 16.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday. During the first six months, China produced a total of 1,627.64 million tons of coal, down 9.7 percent year on year.

The fall was not surprising, as the country is implementing government policy. China plans to maintain its annual coal consumption at 4.1 billion tonnes by the end of 2020. Coal will by then account for less than 58 percent of the country's national energy consumption.

In June, China generated 490.8 billion kWh of electricity, up 2.1 percent from a year earlier. Of these, coal-fired power plants provided 345.7 billion kWh, which is 0.6 percent less per year; hydropower accounted for 106.5 billion kWh, which is 3.5 percent more per year; the share of nuclear energy accounts for 18 billion kWh, which is 13.4 percent more per year.