Following the economic reform of late 1970s China has had a very fast economic growth: its GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 9.3% and in the first nine months of 2005 it stood at 9.4%. To face the energy demand, in the 1980s, the Chinese government adopted, an energy policy plan based on domestic energy resources, mainly coal. China accounts for 12.6% of the world’s proven coal reserves and is both the largest producer and consumer of coal in the world. China's coal production in 2004 was 1.400 billion Mt and at present coal fired plants accounted for 73% of the installed power generation.
