The Historical Development of China's Coal Industry

(1) The development of ancient coal industry

China is the first country in the world to develop and utilize coal resources. Long-standing myths and legends fully show that coal has long been discovered and utilized in China.

1973 Among the cultural relics unearthed from Xinle site in Shenyang in June, 97 pieces of carved coal products and coal blocks were identified as coal in the west of Fushun coalfield. The cultural relics unearthed from Xinle site belong to the Neolithic Age, which shows that Fushun coalfield in China was discovered and utilized as early as 6800-7200 years ago. 1938 Fushun also found a coal burning relic in the residential site of the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago.

Since the Han Dynasty, coal has been used to make iron. During the Western Han Dynasty, coal mining was started to make iron. During the Three Kingdoms period at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the exploitation and utilization of coal was further developed.

During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, the coal development in Gao 'an, Jiangxi, Kuqa, Xinjiang and Datong, Shanxi was more prominent.

In the early years of Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty, coal became an important fuel for the imperial court. In the fourth year of Tang Yuanhe (AD 809), Fang Shiqing invented black powder, which made the mining industry enter the era of blasting mining. Since the Tang Dynasty, the knowledge of coal development and utilization in China has gradually spread abroad. In some foreign works, the utilization of coal by China people has been described, which has become a symbol of friendly exchanges between China and foreign countries.

The development and utilization of coal in Song Dynasty was most prominent in Henan, Hebei, Shaanxi and Shandong. By the Song Dynasty, our people had used coke and the coking technology had reached maturity.

In Yuan Dynasty, after the national unification, the ruling group headed by Mongolian aristocrats vigorously developed production and attached importance to mining in order to consolidate their rule. Especially in Xishan area, where the capital is mostly (now Beijing), the coal mining industry has developed extensively and become the largest coal production base.

In the Ming Dynasty, the development and utilization of coal in China got obvious development. At that time, the coal industry not only made general progress in Henan, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi and Shaanxi, but also developed to varying degrees in Jiangxi, Anhui, Sichuan and Yunnan.

The coal mining industry in Qing Dynasty was further developed on the basis of Ming Dynasty. From the early Qing Dynasty to Daoguang, rulers of all dynasties paid more attention to coal production and took measures to support coal development. Due to the importance attached by governments at all levels to coal development, the urgent needs of society and the hard work of people from all over the country, the coal mining industry generally developed in the Qing Dynasty, especially in the Qianlong period (A.D. 1736 ~ 1795), and another climax appeared in the history of ancient coal development in China.

(2) the development of modern coal industry

The first modern coal mine officially built in China is Keelung Coal Mine in Taiwan Province Province. By 1895, more than a dozen smaller modern coal mines had been opened in various places, which made China's coal mining industry enter a new historical period, which was the first stage of the development of modern coal mines in China.

From 1895 to 1936, a number of new joint venture coal mining enterprises have emerged under the situation that foreign capital and national capitalists are scrambling to invest in China coal mines. 1929 The Kuomintang Government Construction Committee opened Huainan Coal Mine; In the same year, Shanxi Jinbei Mining Bureau was established to mine Datong coal mine; By 1936, there will be 6/kloc-0 coal mines with an annual output of more than 50,000 tons, and the national raw coal output will be 39 million tons, with an average efficiency of 0.3t per work.

The basic characteristics of this period are: (1) The imperialists successively seized the mineral rights of China, and controlled the main coal mines in China by operating alone or jointly with China. During this period, foreigners invested in 32 coal mines, accounting for 5 1.78% of the total investment in coal mines in China. 1933 The national coal output belongs to foreign capital, accounting for 6 1.3%. (2) Under the condition of insufficient funds and weak technical force, China's state capital has opened a number of coal mines, which are inefficient and costly, and can't stand the blow of foreign coal dumping and often suffer losses. (3) The mechanical configuration in the production process is extremely unreasonable. Mine hoisting, ventilation and drainage adopt new machines, the mining face is mainly hand-picked coal planing, and roadway transportation depends entirely on manpower and animal power. ④ The distribution of coal mining enterprises is extremely unreasonable, mainly concentrated in Hebei, Shandong, Liaoning, Shanxi and Henan provinces. From 65438 to 0936, the coal output of these five provinces accounted for 76.5% of the national coal output.

(3) War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's coal industry.

1937 War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression outbreak. After 193 1 invaded all the coal mines in northeast China, Japanese imperialism invaded the coal mines in North China and Central China one after another. Japanese imperialism plundered the occupied areas in Northeast China, North China and Central China. Coal mining has the following characteristics: ① In order to solve the difficulty of insufficient equipment, Japanese imperialism can plunder China's coal resources more quickly, and small inclined shafts and vertical shafts are mainly used in coal field development. For example, there are 267 large and small coal mines in Northeast China, including 8 vertical shafts, 7 open pits and 252 inclined shafts. Most coal mining methods are residual pillars, and the recovery rate is only about 20%. (2) Increasing production mainly depends on increasing labor force, and rarely increases mechanical equipment. (3) The production efficiency is decreasing year by year, and the coal cost is increasing year by year. (4) Lack of safety equipment and measures, and serious disasters and accidents. 1942 a rare gas and coal dust explosion accident occurred in Benxihu coal mine, resulting in 1549 deaths.

After 1937, with Japanese imperialism occupying the main coal-producing areas in North China, the Kuomintang government had to turn coal development to southwest, south and northwest. From 1937 to 1945, there are 57 coal mines with a daily output of more than 50t under the jurisdiction of the Kuomintang government, the largest of which is Tianfu Coal Mine, with an annual output of more than 300,000 t, and most other coal mines have an annual output of less than 20,000 t. From 1938 to 1945, the area under the jurisdiction of the Kuomintang government.

(4) Coal industry during the War of Liberation.

1945 after Japan surrendered, most of the occupied coal mines were taken over by the Kuomintang government. Due to the plunder and destruction of the Japanese emperor and the war, most of these coal mines are in a state of suspension or semi-suspension. The output of coal mines in southwest China and other places has dropped sharply because of poor sales. From 1946 to 1948, only 29 coal mines directly under the jurisdiction of the Resources Committee of the Kuomintang government produced12.52 million tons of raw coal.

In China Liberated Area, the democratic government first took over a number of coal mines from the Japanese Emperor, and then successively took over all coal mines except Taiwan Province Province from the Kuomintang government. These coal mines have been seriously damaged. In the case of extreme shortage of equipment and materials, the democratic government has carried out arduous emergency repair work and gradually resumed production. From 1946 to 1949, China liberated area produced about 20 million tons of raw coal.

(5) Coal industry after the founding of New China.

At the beginning of the founding of New China, about 40 coal mining enterprises, 200 mines and a few open-pit mines were received from old China. Together with the small coal mines, public-private joint-venture coal mines and private small coal mines run by the democratic government in the liberated areas, 1949 produced 32.43 metric tons of raw coal.

In the three-year recovery period (1950 ~ 1952), the original coal mine production was fully restored, 32 mines were rebuilt and expanded, and the designed production capacity was 12.5 1Mt/a, which initially laid the foundation for coal mining and development.

During the "First Five-Year Plan" period (1953 ~ 1957), large-scale coal mine production and construction began, with emphasis on the expansion of old mining areas such as Kailuan, Datong, Fuxin and Hegang, and the development and construction of new ones such as Pingdingshan, Hebi, Baotou, Lu 'an and Shizuishan. 205 mines have been built and put into operation, with a designed production capacity of 63.76 mt/a; 38 mines have been restored, with the designed production capacity of 1 1.34Mt/a and the national raw coal output of 1957 reaching130.73mt..

The three-year Great Leap Forward from 65438 to 0958 and the unscientific practices such as high index and blind command during this period led to the improper expansion of coal mine construction scale, some newly-built mines were simply put into operation, and some production mines were re-mined and lightly excavated, and unreasonable mining methods were implemented, resulting in serious mining imbalance. In view of the problems brought by the Great Leap Forward, the coal industry made the first major adjustment.

During the third five-year plan period (1966 ~ 1970) and the fourth five-year plan period (197 1 ~ 1975), great changes have taken place in the coal development strategy and construction priorities. During this period, the "third line" of coal industry-southwest and northwest coal production bases were intensively built, and Jiangnan coalfields sprang up. Liupanshui (collectively known as Liuzhi, Panxian and Shuicheng mining areas) and Panzhihua mining areas are mainly built in southwest China, and 28 mines have been built, with a total designed production capacity of 14. 1 1Mt/a, and 2 mines have been built and put into operation, with a designed production capacity of 9.40 mt/a; In the northwest Helan Mountain base and Weibei base.

During the fourth five-year plan period, the total construction scale reached 42, and the designed production capacity was12.82 mt/a; 13 mine (open pit) has been built, with the designed production capacity of 1 1.22Mt/a, which meets the coal demand in southwest and northwest China and significantly improves the coal development layout. In order to reverse the situation of transporting coal from north to south, Jiangnan coalfield carried out large-scale coalfield geological exploration and widely distributed mining area construction during the "Third Five-Year Plan" period. By the end of the Fourth Five-Year Plan, 295 mines had been built, with a designed production capacity of 39.36 mt/a. Because the construction and deployment are not in line with the reality of Jiangnan coalfield, despite great efforts, the original goal of "reversing the transportation of coal from the north to the south" has not been realized.

In view of the emphasis on the potential of production mines and the reduction of the scale of new well construction in the 1970 s, some production mines have appeared unbalanced mining. Since the late 1970s, the coal industry has undergone the second adjustment. The scale of new well construction has been increased, and the focus of construction has shifted from southwest to south to north and east, which has strengthened the development and deepening of production mines and improved the conditions for safe production.

In 1980s, with the deepening of reform and opening up, coal mining has made great progress in both quality and quantity. More than 0/0 new mining areas have been developed, and a number of modern large-scale mines and open-pit mines have been built. Coal mining mechanization and comprehensive mechanization have been vigorously promoted, and multi-level high-yield and high-efficiency mines have been focused on construction. Vigorously develop local coal mines, open township coal mines all over the country, and selectively build key coal-producing counties to make coal mining larger.

At the end of the 20th century 10, China coal mining focused on improving economic benefits, applied modern high-tech and mining technology and equipment, accelerated the modernization of coal mine production technology, built high-yield and efficient mines (open pit mines), and built 29 high-yield and efficient coal mines 129 (65,438 people underground and 6 open pits). A few mines have reached the most advanced level in the world. [ 1]

Since 2 1 century, China's coal industry has developed rapidly, which has set off a new climax of coal mine development and mining. According to the statistical bulletin of national economic and social development in 20 12 issued by the National Bureau of Statistics, the output of raw coal in China has reached 3.65 billion t in 20 12. Figure 1- 1 shows the output and growth of raw coal in China in recent six years.

Figure 1- 1 Raw coal output and growth rate in recent six years