Coal, power supplies returning to normal

The pressure on power and coal supplies strained by the recent snowstorms is easing even as reconstruction speeds up in disaster-hit regions, the country's top work safety agency said yesterday.

Coal reserves at power plants under the State Grid Corporation of China have reached 27.58 million tons, enough for more than 14 days, Huang Yi, spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS), said yesterday during an online interview with China.com.cn.

"During the Lunar New Year festival, 64 percent of the country's coal mines - with 96.7 percent of State-owned large mines in this group - had remained at production capacity. This helped boost national reserves to the current 36 million tons, the highest in recent years," Huang said.