China's State Administration for Market Regulation has conducted investigations on activities of bidding up coal prices, the administration said Friday.

According to the administration, China saw 190 mining accidents in the January-July period, down 14 percent year on year.

"The situation on the gas market is tense," Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said in a statement.

These measures have raised concerns that the EU might scale back its climate ambitions.

Many European countries have recently announced the reopening of coal power plants as gas supplies from Russia have slumped amid European Union sanctions.

The Mehrum power plant in Germany is back in operation due to the current gas supply crisis.

The district, part of an old coal-mining region that closed five years ago, has taken up the challenge of transforming the local economy, embracing green agriculture despite the poor soil and lack of water.

China is set to start production of the world's largest coal-to-ethanol plant in September, which will be capable of producing over half a million metric tons of the key industrial ingredient each year, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.