China’s coal output rose to a record in 2025, statistics bureau data showed on Monday, as lower domestic prices prompted buyers to cut imports and rebuild stockpiles with cheaper local supply, although the rise was limited by regulator efforts to curb production growth.
Production in 2025 reached 4.83-billion metric tons, up 1.2% from 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
More ample domestic supply – a reversal from the coal and power shortages China experienced a few years ago – also encouraged power plants to source better quality coal, said Peng Chengyao, head of APAC power and renewables research at S&P Global Energy.
That, in turn, contributed to a higher coal washing ratio which boosted the volume of raw coal extracted from mines.
December output, however, was down 1% from a year earlier to 437.03-million metric tons. Monthly output had surged early in the year, but authorities stepped in with curbs on production when the increased output pushed domestic prices too low.
China’s coal production could expand again in 2026, although it will depend on whether regulators continue to crack down on mines producing more than their allotted capacity, according to Feng Dongbin, vice general manager at Fenwei Digital Information Technology, which operates Chinese coal analytics platform Sxcoal.