China gives new backing to coal even as clean energy accelerates

China signaled coal will retain its role as the country’s mainstay fuel even as the government continues to support the expansion of its world-leading clean energy industry.

The nation that mines and burns more than half the world’s coal will keep supporting the fuel, while targeting more efficient consumption and advanced production techniques, according to government reports released Sunday at the start of the National People’s Congress. In a speech in Beijing, Premier Li Keqiang highlighted the role coal played in ensuring energy supplies and keeping domestic prices at comparatively low levels last year despite global inflation.