ABSTRACT
China’s modern coal industry progressed from relatively primitive beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century to that of the world’s largest producer, and this position is not likely to be challenged. The path to this achievement was not consistently upward, and the success was qualified. While production goals for 2000 were achieved before the end of the century, those for quality, technical upgrading, resource use, labour efficiency, exports, foreign investment, and profitability for the industry as a whole, were not.
