BEIJING: China will ban the sale and import of ‘dirty’ coal in less than four months, a top government body said, in an anti-pollution move that could have repercussions for key exporters including Australia.
Coal with sulphur content of more than three percent and ash content of more than 40 percent will no longer be permitted as of January 1, according to a notice posted late Monday on the website of China’s powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner.
The Chinese government made the move “in an effort to improve air quality in its major cities”, the official Xinhua news agency has reported. China’s three decades of rapid industrialisation have transformed its economy and seen incomes soar, but have also brought severe environmental consequences including smog that regularly blankets its cities.
Much of that pollution is driven by the Asian giant’s heavy reliance on coal. China is the world’s largest consumer of coal, accounting for around half of global consumption.
