China orders coal mines to increase production amid its 'worst electricity crisis' in decades

Beijing [China], October 9 : With China facing a big power crisis, the country has ordered its coal mines to ramp up production in a bid to mitigate the crisis, a media report said.
The country is struggling to balance its need for electricity with efforts to tackle the climate crisis.
Officials in China's second-largest coal-producing province, Inner Mongolia, have asked 72 mines to boost production by a total of 98.4 million metric tons, reported CNN citing state-owned Securities Times and the China Securities Journal.
The figure is equivalent to about 30 per cent of China's monthly coal production, according to recent government data.
Energy authorities in Inner Mongolia didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the issue.
China is facing its 'worst electricity crisis' in decades as elevators have been turned off, stores' opening hours have shortened, factories have had to reduce operating days and power consumption, and some provinces have experienced outright blackouts too.
The immediate cause is that China is still highly dependent on coal, which provides 70 per cent of the country's power generation. However, the reasons for the crisis can also be traced back to a string of policy missteps and poorly thought-out market interventions after the beginning of the pandemic, according to Foreign Policy.
The energy crisis in China led to an industrial output decline in September for the first time since Beijing started recovering from the COVID-19 lockdowns.