The country encountered a crisis in supplies of coal used for power generation in January and February, due to strong demand and logistical problems caused by snowstorms.

Meng said stockpiles of coal for power generation in major power plants are back to normal and coal exports are being resumed.

"But to solve the problem, we need to optimize our energy structure and promote new energy," he said.

At present, Meng said, 87 percent of the country's power supply relies on coal, while in some developed countries only 40 percent of power supply come from coal.

In response to a question on whether some illegal coal mines that were shut down restarted operations to ease the energy crisis, Shanxi's Party Secretary Zhang Baoshun said it was customary for small mines not to operate during the Spring Festival.

Zhang said coal shipments from Shanxi during the festival were from State-owned mines or stockpiles. But he admitted the widespread shutdown of illegal or small mines had exerted some negative impact on the province's output.

Figures from Shanxi showed that in recent years, the number of coal mines in the province has dropped from 10,000 to 2,820.

(China Daily March 11, 2008)