China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, will be the focus of attention at next week's United Nations summit on climate action in New York, with Beijing promising more ambition when it comes to tackling global warming.
China has been under pressure to curb investments in coal, at home and overseas, but Chinese financial institutions have continued to support coal projects.
Beijing said on Tuesday, in a position paper ahead of the UN meeting, that it would remain on "the clean energy and low-carbon development path" but stopped short of setting new targets.
China has cut the share of coal in its total energy mix from more than 68 per cent in 2012 to 59 per cent by the end of last year, but overall consumption has continued to increase.
China had 1,020 GW of coal-fired power by the end of July, amounting to 55 per cent of its total installed capacity. A Chinese industry group has suggested total capacity could eventually settle at
1,300 GW.