Their total profits stood at 8.4 trillion yuan in this period, down 4 percent from a year earlier, the NBS data revealed.

The daily crude steel output stood at 1.93 million tonnes in early January, according to the China Iron and Steel Association.

This year, Inner Mongolia will also step up the clean and efficient use of coal, Wang said.

China aims to have its CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

Power consumption data can reflect situations of enterprises' production and economic operation, and thus become a key barometer of economic activity, experts said.

Its output growth rates over the past two years far exceeded that of the three leading coal-producing regions of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia.

Last year, Shanxi provided 620 million tonnes of thermal coal for another 24 provincial-level regions in China, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

Exports would recover slowly because of the global economic downturn, according to the newspaper.