China's coal output up 10.3 pct in May

BEIJING -- China's raw coal output sustained steady growth in May as policy measures to ensure energy supply and stabilize prices have taken effect, official data showed.

The output rose 10.3 percent year on year to 370 million tonnes last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate was 0.4 percentage points lower than that in April, the bureau said.

Coal imports shrank last month. China imported 20.55 million tonnes of coal in May, down 2.3 percent year on year.

In the January-May period, the country's raw coal output rose 10.4 percent year on year to 1.81 billion tonnes, while imports dropped 13.6 percent to around 96 million tonnes, the data showed.