BEIJING: * China's top coal mining region Inner Mongolia will shut 22 small coal mines this year with a combined annual capacity of 11.1 million tonnes, local authorities said in a statement on Monday.
* The closures are in line with Beijing's push to streamline the industry by shutting down small, inefficient mines and adding new capacity at bigger, more modernised mines.
* Inner Mongolia expects to complete a 2020 target of cutting 54.14 million tonnes by 2018, according to the statement.
* The region will also continue to phase out more small coal mines with outdated equipment and give their capacity quota to big miners, the authorities said.
* China has targeted cutting its total coal production capacity by about 150 million tonnes this year as part of a drive to cut pollution.