China's foreign ministry says coal imports from Australia continues as normal

BEIJING: China's Australian coal imports continue as normal, but the customs administration has stepped up environment and safety checks on foreign cargoes, Geng Shuang, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday.

Geng said during a press briefing that a Reuters report that the northern port of Dalian has banned Australia coal imports was not true.

Reuters reported on Thursday that customs at Dalian has banned imports of Australian coal and will cap overall coal imports from all sources to the end of 2019 at 12 million tonnes.