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BEIJING: China's coal output increased 5.8 percent from a year earlier to 838 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year, the official People's Daily reported on Monday, citing comments from Wang Xianzheng, head of the China Coal Industry Association.
National coal inventories stood at 223 million tonnes at the end of March, the newspaper report said.
Coal stocks in major power plants were 76.68 million tonnes at the end of last month, enough for 19 days' power generation, the report added.