China will accelerate mergers and acquisitions within the coal mining industry and promote construction of large-scale coal production bases, National Energy Administration Director Zhang Guobao said Tuesday.

These moves are conducive to protecting the nation's coal mine resources, conducting intensive explorations, bolstering industrial structural adjustments and boosting the industry's efficiency, Zhang said at a coal mining industry conference held in Beijing.

Further, Zhang encouraged state owned mine enterprises to initiate mergers and acquisitions under the joint-stock system, and he also urged promoting the integration of mining rights in new mining areas in Shaanxi,Shanxi and Guizhou provinces, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The Chinese government has been pushing for consolidation in the coal mining industry to reduce the number of old, unsafe mines to improve work safety and protect the environment.

China shut 1,355 small coal mines with production capacity of 125.19 million tonnes in the first nine months of this year, according to earlier data released by the National Energy Administration.