(Yicai Global) Dec. 16 -- China's crude coal output was 330 million tons last month in an annual 4.5 percent rise and the growth rate was 0.1 percentage points faster than the previous month, data the country's National Bureau of Statistics released today show.

Coal imports for the month were 20.78 million tons, an increase of 8.5 percent per year, with the growth rate falling 2.9 percentage points from October.

The output of raw coal was 3.41 billion tons from January to November in a yearly 4.5 percent jump; coal imports were 299 million tons in a 10.2 percent per-year increase.

Editor: Ben Armour