That leaves coal, China’s most important and abundant fuel. Because of its dominance, and because of known deficiencies in coal figures, the story of uncertainty in China’s energy statistics is really a story of coal. While recent official statistics show a surge in coal production and use, these need to be viewed with a critical eye, and, at the very least, compared to major indicators that are correlated. Recent annual and monthly statistics on economic growth, output of industrial goods, investment, and prices, as discussed in the following sections, display trends that are generally consistent with the trends in coal, providing support for the position that the direction, if not necessarily the exact extent, of the reported trends in energy use are credible.
There are two main types of market for coal. The first brings together large state-owned mines, the biggest of which produce several million tons of product each year, with large, often state-owned consumers, such as power plants and iron and steel smelters. This coal is typically sold through long-term contracts, and transported long distances. The other coal market is local, bringing together small mines, some producing a few hundred tons of coal or less annually, and small industrial, residential, and commercial consumers. The large-scale market bears some resemblance to markets for oil products, with volumes of production, trade and consumption easily tracked. As is the case with oil, stockpile figures are not available regularly. The small-scale market, on the other hand, is poorly characterized, and there is much less certainty regarding the amounts involved. Non-state, generally small mines currently produce about 30% of total coal output (Interfax, 2002).The inaccuracy in the data on local coal markets has been compounded by the government’s campaign to close down small, unsafe coal mines, begun in 1997. Officialreports claim that tens of thousands of small mines have been closed down, and this campaign was accompanied by a huge drop in reported coal production, and a somewhat lesser fall in coal consumption in the late 1990s. There is considerable evidence, however, that actual coal output and use did not fall as much as official statistics suggest (Sinton, 2001). Consequently the more recent very rapid growth in coal output represents not just actual growth (which is corroborated by trends in economic and investment indicators, as described below), but also, it is to be hoped, a return to more credible reporting.reports claim that tens of thousands of small mines have been closed down, and this campaign was accompanied by a huge drop in reported coal production, and a somewhat lesser fall in coal consumption in the late 1990s. There is considerable evidence, however, that actual coal output and use did not fall as much as official statistics suggest (Sinton, 2001).
读不通啊 啊啊啊啊,你们能不能自己先读读再发啊