The value of gross output of 31 major coal companies reached 55.61 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2005, up 49.7 percent year-on-year.

According to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the growth rate was 3.7 percentage points lower than that of the first two months.

The commission said along with the country's micro-economic control, the abnormal development of high energy-consuming sectors such as electricity, steel and building materials, has been contained. So the supply of coal was not so intense as in 2004.

The ratio of production and sales was 97.2 percent, 1.2 percentage points more than the same period of 2004.

The profits of the 31 companies reached 8.29 billion yuan, 1.3 times over the same period of last year.