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KEPCO will cover 34 per cent of the investment, while the Chinese company and Deutsche Bank will account for 47 per cent and 19 per cent respectively, said South Korean media reports.

The venture will develop nine coal mines in North China's Shanxi Province over the next 50 years, according to media reports.

It also plans to buy 24 power plants in China, which will have a combined capacity of 9,330 megawatts (MW).

KEPCO is South Korea's major power producer, supplying more than 95 per cent of the country's electricity. The company refused to comment on the deal when contacted yesterday.

The Seoul-based power company formally entered the Chinese market in 2004, with the construction of two power plants in Central China's Henan Province.

The two coal-fired power plants were each designed to have an installed capacity of 50 MW, involving a total investment of US$71 million.

The South Korean company signed an agreement in 2004 with its Chinese partners to construct two more coal-fired power plants in Henan, each with a designed installed capacity of 600 MW.

Analysts said that the deal would help the Chinese company to increase its technological level and management skills.

"Shanxi Province is abundant in coal resources and KEPCO boasts advanced technology. The deal is an example of win-win co-operation," said Han Xiaoping, an energy industry analyst at the China5e.com website.

China is the largest coal producer in the world, and Shanxi's coal output accounts for about one-third of the nation's total.

Coal-fired power plants now account for over 70 per cent of the nation's total electricity output, with the authorities encouraging them to use more advanced technology in order to save energy.

China Huaneng Group, the nation's biggest electricity producer, launched the nation's first 1,000 MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired generating units last month, with an investment of 9.6 billion yuan (US$1.22 billion).

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's coal output hit 1.67 billion tons in the first 10 months of this year, up 12.2 per cent year-on-year.

The coal industry saw a profit of 52.3 billion yuan (US$6.54 billion) during the January-October period, an increase of 17.6 per cent year-on-year .

China Coal Energy Co, China's leading coal mine operator, hopes to raise up to US$1.7 billion after its shares are listed in Hong Kong today. It is the third mainland coal group to list in Hong Kong after Yanzhou Coal Mining Co and Shenhua Energy Co.

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