China could greatly reduce its reliance on coal. It probably will not
Even though solar and wind power are growing at a blistering pace
In Shuozhou, a nondescript city of 1.6m people in northern China’s Shanxi province, the veins of the local economy run black with coal. To the north of the city lies one of the largest open-pit mines in the country. Shuozhou’s mines churn out 200m tonnes of the black stuff every year. Lines of lorries carry it to be washed, sorted, then burned in power stations across the country. If China ditched coal in favour of cleaner sources of power, the city would be “finished”, warns Sun Zhigang, a recently retired miner who is out walking his dog in the park.
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This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Burn, baby, burn”
From the April 5th 2025 edition
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