China has ordered coal miners to boost production urgently as the energy crisis threatens factories across the world’s second-biggest economy and forces Xi Jinping’s administration to backtrack on climate change promises.
Energy officials in Inner Mongolia, one of China’s largest coal producing regions, instructed 72 local miners to expand capacity by 100m tonnes, according to a report by Securities Times, a state-controlled national financial newspaper.
The latest effort by Chinese authorities to combat acute power shortages comes after high-tech manufacturing factories were forced to halt or reduce operations, power cuts affected homes in parts of north-east China and there were warnings that critical industries such as food production could also be hit.