Shanxi Province, China's biggest coal production hub, plans to hold a coal fair, named China (Taiyuan) International Coal & Energy New Industry Expo, next month in its capital city of Taiyuan.

Co-organized by the provincial government and China's Ministry of Commerce, the fair is scheduled for September 16 to 18, providing 1,500 standard booths in a total area of 30,000 sq m.

The fair, the first of its kind in Shanxi and set to become an annual event, aims to promote the upgrading of the coal industry and international exchanges and cooperation in the sector, organizers said.

A total of 320 companies, including 102 from abroad, have agreed to join the exposition so far to showcase their products and technologies, such as coal-to-oil and coalbed methane technologies, according to organizers.

There will also be two high-profile forums titled China-Japan Energy Saving and Environmental Protection, and Coal and Energy Sustainable Development during the exposition.

Coal production in Shanxi grew by 11.2 percent year-on-year to 268 million tons in the first half of this year, accounting for almost a quarter of the total in China, according to industry data.

Meanwhile, sales revenue of the coal mining sector in the province surged by 26.6 percent to 88.5 billion yuan on the back of increases in production and prices.

According to a government plan, annual coal production in Shanxi will hit 700 million tons by the end of this decade. However, the province is stepping up efforts to close illegal and unsafe small mines as well as orchestrate mergers and acquisitions in the sector to achieve sustainable development.

The government expects the number of coal mines in the province will decline to less than 2,000 by 2010 from 9,000 in 2005. It hopes coal mines with an annual production of more than 1 million tons will control over 80 percent of the total output in the province.

The province will also boost the development of coal industrialization sector, such as coalbed methane, coke-oven gas and coal liquefaction.

It expects the coal industrialization sector to be a new pillar economic unit with annual sales revenue of more than 100 billion yuan by 2010.

The central government in May approved a plan to build China's first national coal trading center in Taiyuan. Construction of the center is expected to start next month, local sources said.

(China Daily August 31, 2007)