(Yicai Global) June 29 -- China’s biggest coal-producing province Shanxi intends to increase its output by 107 million tons this year because of international shortages.

The total should be 1.3 billion tons of coal this year, according to a document issued recently by the government of the northern province that contributes about a quarter of China’s total coal production.

In 2023, Shanxi will further increase its output of the fossil fuel by 50 million tons to 1.35 billion tons so as to safeguard China’s energy supply, per the same source.

Shanxi is asking coal mining companies within its jurisdiction to speed up construction to reach the 2022 goal. It also allows a group of qualified coal mines that have been suspended for a long time to resume production. The province has 124 coal mines that are inactive with an annual capacity of 124.3 million tons, according to the document.

Energy has been in short supply this year. In the first quarter, China’s coal imports plunged 24.2 percent from a year earlier to 51.8 million tons due to global energy shortages, based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

More than 60 percent of Shanxi's coal output is used to meet other regions' demand. As of February, Shanxi had 653 coal mines with a total output of nearly 1.2 billion tons last year, according to public information.

China is the world’s largest coal consumer and importer. Its imports reached 323 million tons last year, rising 6.6 percent from a year earlier. Indonesia is its largest source of such imports, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total.

The country has been formulating policies to strengthen its energy supply. The State Council has announced the implementation of a zero import tariff on coal from May 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023. Moreover, the support goes beyond taxation. In early May, the central bank unleashed an additional CNY100 billion (USD14.9 billion) of special relending quota for coal development, pushing the total quota to CNY300 billion.

Editors: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi