China's National Energy Administration (NEA) in its directives for energy work in 2017:

  • "Coal capacity certainly remains excessive, (but) the annual-capacity reduction target cannot be set at a very high level every year"
  • The government plans to shutter more than 500 coal mines this year.

Remarks to Caixin from He Yongjian, a deputy chief of the NEA's planning department,

For 2017:

  • China's goal to reduce excess coal capacity will be far less ambitious this year
  • Only 20% of last year's target
  • Scaling back coal production is expected to be increasingly difficult due to rising prices and concerns over lost jobs

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ps. There is a meeting today in China of the biggest coal producers

Shanghai Securities News reports the China Coal Association will assess current operations, & explore further measures to ensure stable output