{"id":34967,"date":"2017-08-07T10:28:00","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T10:28:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-15T18:18:57","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T18:18:57","slug":"9967-2-3-million-chinese-coal-miners-will-need-new-jobs-by-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/energy\/9967-2-3-million-chinese-coal-miners-will-need-new-jobs-by-2-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2.3 million Chinese coal miners will need new jobs by 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor’s Note: This article forms part of a Special Report on economic decline and rejuvenation in China’s former coal belt. In part two photographer Stam Lee explores Fuxin, a hollowed out pit town pinning its hopes on wind power in photo essay<\/a>, accompanies by a report<\/a> co-authored with China Dialogue reporter Feng Hao. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the heart of China\u2019s heavy industry, the country\u2019s north-east is in trouble; its oil fields and steel mills are struggling, and its coal mining sector is in chronic decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consequences of decades of rapid economic development started to attract attention in the early years of the century. Between 2008 and 2010 the government identified 69 \u201cresource depleted cities\u201d of which 19 \u2013 more than a quarter \u2013 are in the north-eastern provinces of Jilin, Liaoning and Heilongjiang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these 19 cities primarily mined coal but with the sector in decline, an urgent search is on for new economic opportunities. Many of the problems faced by China\u2019s north-east reflect the broader need for China to shift to more sustainable economic development as environmental pressures force it to restore the environment and reduce carbon emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resource depletion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is getting harder to mine coal in the north-east. Most seams have been mined too extensively, with some pits descending over a kilometre down into the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At those depths, the temperature and humidity become problematic for large machinery so more labour intensive methods are used. But the higher labour costs mean that the cost of coal mining has rocketed to unsustainable levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a recent report<\/a>, jointly published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences\u2019 Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies<\/a> and the Research Institute for Global Value Chains<\/a> at the University of International Business and Economics, coal companies nationwide employ on average 11 people per 10,000 tonnes of coal output. However, industry leaders such as Shenhua and the China National Coal Group have reduced this to 4-5 people. In contrast, older north-east companies such as the Jilin Coal Group and Shenyang Coal Group employ around 21, and the Heilongjiang Coal Group employs 48 \u2013 four times the national average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The additional labour increases costs. The Heilongjiang Coal Group pays 451 yuan to extract one tonne of coal, with labour costs accounting for 215 yuan. This compares to less than 200 yuan for one tonne of coal for Shenhua.<\/p>\n\n\n\n