He Youguo, deputy director of the Chinese Coal Industry Development and Research Center, has outlined China's plans for its coal industry in the 12th five-year plan period (2011-2015). According to Mr. He, during the period in question priority will be given to open-pit mine development, while by 2015 20 large coal mining groups will be formed with an annual output capacity of 10-40 million mt each.
Mr. He Youguo stated that during the 12th five-year plan period the focus should be put on large modern coal mine developments, especially on mines with annual output capacities of above 1.2 million mt. According to official data, China has about 15,000 mines; however, in 2008 mines with annual outputs of above 1.2 million mt totaled only 469, with their output accounting for 53 percent of total domestic output. In the 12th five-year plan period, large modern open-pit coal mines will have to be developed first; currently, these mines only account for 8.1 percent of total output.
Mr. He added that different mines would have to be built according to the situation in different districts. For example, in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, the main focus would have to be on small mines with annual outputs of 0.3-0.9 million mt.
During the 12th five-year plan period, enterprise size would have to be expanded but the total number of enterprises would not be increased much.