China's coal-rich Shanxi sees 9.1 pct GDP growth last year

TAIYUAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Shanxi, a major coal-producing province in north China, posted 9.1 percent of GDP growth to reach nearly 2.26 trillion yuan (about 356 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to the ongoing Shanxi Provincial People's Congress on Thursday.

It marks the province's GDP exceeding 2 trillion yuan for the first time in history, with a growth rate at 1 percentage point higher than that of the whole country.

As an important energy base in China, Shanxi's coal output reached 1.19 billion tonnes last year.

The coal-rich province continued to promote the transformation of traditional industries. The installed capacity of new energy and renewable energy reached nearly 39 million kilowatts, accounting for 34.3 percent of the total installed capacity.

Shanxi targets economic growth of about 6.5 percent in 2022 and aims to provide job opportunities for 450,000 people in urban areas.

Green development will be further promoted in the province and 20 intelligent coal mines are expected to be built in 2022.