BEIJING: China's April coal imports rose from the same month last year, customs data showed on Wednesday, as power plants stockpiled supplies ahead of peak demand for electricity over the summer.China imported 25.3 million tonnes of coal in April, the data from the General Administration of Customs showed. That was up 13.6 percent from 22.28 million tonnes a year earlier.
For the first four months of 2019, imports were 99.93 million tonnes, up 1.7 percent from a year ago, according to the data.
The jump in imports came ahead of the summer when people crank up their air conditioning in the face of sweltering heat.