Sep 20 - BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency)

[Xinhua: "China Power Coal Reserves in Major Plants Hit New High"]

BEIJING, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) - China's coal reserves in 353 major power plants have hit a record 29.33m tonnes, according to Ministry of Railways (MOR) figures on Friday.

This amount was compared to normal reserves of 23m to 24m tonnes in the previous years, experts said.

"Reserves are sufficient to ensure current electricity generation. Although some small plants are still short of coal due to various reasons, the severe power coal shortage of the previous months is expected to ease as a whole," said Zhang Zhonghua, an Orient Securities analyst.

Experts attributed the surging stockpile to a weaken demand for power as the traditional summer peak season had passed. The country consumed 319.8bn kwh of power in August, down 1 per cent from 322.5bn kwh in July.

The country's efforts in enhancing coal transport capacity and shutting down small-scale thermal coal plants also contributed to the rise, the ministry said.

Last year, China shut down small coal-fired power generators with a total capacity of 14.38m kwh. The figure accounted for 28.76 per cent of the total capacity the country planned to close during the 11th Five-year Plan (2006-2010), according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Originally published by Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0815 20 Sep 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.