BEIJING, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- China will continue to face an energy crisis this year, with coal supplies a major concern, state media said Tuesday.
The ongoing China 2005 Coal Ordering Conference held in Qinhuangdao, a port in Hebei province, attributed shortfalls in supply to rapidly rising demand coupled with inefficient production, overburdened transportation, and an irrational distribution system.
The country hopes to boost output by consolidating coal production around larger mining operations and by tighter regulations on building new coal mines and power plants, China Daily said.
China's production goal is 2.05 billion tons of coal for the coming year, adequate to meet basic needs, but bedeviled by what has become an unregulated market melee in the scramble to secure energy resources.
The government hopes to stabilize coal supply and demand by creating an information sharing system between the coal industry, power generation units, and the transportation sector.
In 2005 the government also plans to expand railways and roads from coal-rich interior regions like Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces and western Inner Mongolia in north China, while improving infrastructure at ports such as Qinhuangdao that serve resource poor coastal provinces forming the backbone of China's economy.
