CHINA’S production of coal, crude oil and natural gas maintained steady expansion in the first 10 months of the year, official data showed. Miners in the country churned out 390 million tons of coal in October, up 3.8% year on year. Coal output during the first 10 months of the year reached 3.83 billion tons, 3.1% higher than the same period last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). During the January-October period, the country imported a total of 380 million tons of coal, up 66.8% from a year earlier. The country’s crude oil output climbed 1.7% year on year during the period to 174.05 million tons while its crude oil imports gained 14.4% to 473.22 million tons. Production of natural gas rose 6.1% in the first 10 months of the year to 189.6 billion cubic meters, while natural gas imports rose 8.8% to 96.51 million cubic meters, according to the NBS data. (Xinhua) | 