There is plenty of capacity at all four ports to raise throughput and cut shipping queues, weather permitting.

Clean coal usually means capturing carbon emissions from burning coal and storing them in underground pockets of porous rock.

"CPEC has laid a good foundation for Pakistan's industrialization, modernization as well as interconnection with other countries," Wang said.

Miners in the country churned out 4.24 billion tons of coal during the first 11 months, up 2.9 percent year-on-year.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that the country imported a total of 383.64 million tons of coal from January to October this year, a year-on-year increase of 66.8 percent.

The Asian country exported 31.7 million tons of coal last year.

Indonesia has moved a step closer to the early retirement of the privately owned Cirebon-1 coal-fired power station, a milestone deal that could shutter the plant nearly seven years early and create a blueprint for others to follow.

Teck Resources Ltd., one of Canada's leading mining companies, announced Tuesday the full sale of its steelmaking coal business in a series of deals valued at 8.9 billion U.S. dollars.