SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)—China imported 4.1 million metric tons of coal in June, up 72.2% from a year earlier, data from the General Administration of Customs confirmed Monday.

... Coal imports from Indonesia continued to grow rapidly, with June imports at 892,407 tons, more than double from a year earlier.

Vietnam remained China's largest coal importer in June, but import growth was far below that for Indonesia. Coal imports from Vietnam rose 30.6% ...

China's coal exports continued its downtrend, further strengthening the country's status as a net coal importer.

The coal used to generate per kwh dropped by nine grams to 332 grams in the first five month this year from a year earlier...

Well, a 2.6% improvement is something, but still 20% less efficient than the typical US or Japanese coal plant.

... The country's power output reached 1.47 trillion kwh in the first six months, 15.9 percent higher from a year ago, while and its consumption rose 15.84 percent to 1.5 trillion kwh.

ChinaCoalWatcher prediciton: China will surpass US electricity generation by 2010.

... Industrial output of the sectors, including power, steel, oil refining, chemicals, construction materials and metals, grew by 20.1 percent in the first six months ... the six sectors consume 70 percent of the nation's energy for industry and release the same percentage of sulfur dioxide.

Some local governments are investing heavily in high resources consuming sectors, ignoring the central government's decision to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) officials said yesterday.

Failure to meet the central government's green targets, the officials fear, could "indirectly hinder social harmony".

... Local officials prefer such projects because they not only raise their areas' economic output, but also help them get promoted, He said.