The figure dropped by 1.4 percentage points from the previous quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Renewable energy use, low season, curbs on inflows, green drive factors.

"We expect more cooperation with China in the years to come to facilitate its accelerated energy transition, continued economic development and improvement in living standards."

Thanks to the digitalization of the coal industry, miners no longer need to enter the deep mineshafts via walking or riding on a small, outdated train.

China's raw coal output posted stable expansion in March, official data showed.

Shanxi's raw coal output accounted for about 29 percent of the country's total in the first quarter.

All these factors will support a surge in steel consumption in the third and fourth quarters of this year, the VSA added.

China's steel sector saw output expansion in the first quarter of the year, industrial data showed.