The resource-rich Shanxi province will resolutely fulfill its responsibility of safeguarding national energy security. It will continue advancing the intelligent, eco-friendly and safe development of coal resources and maintain a stable annual coal output of 1.3 billion metric tons, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the nation's total coal production, according to provincial senior officials.

Shanxi will deepen its energy revolution, build a new energy system and accelerate its transformation from a coal-rich province into an energy-strong province, Governor Lu Dongliang said at a special news conference on Shanxi's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) held in Taiyuan on Thursday.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Shanxi's coal production totaled 6.5 billion tons, with over 2 billion tons of coal for power generation supplied to 24 provinces under long-term contract prices — accounting for about one-third of the province's total production.

Electricity exports to 24 provinces exceeded 730 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to about one-third of the province's total electricity generation, while green electricity exports ranked among the highest in the country. The cumulative production of unconventional natural gas reached 75 billion cubic meters, making Shanxi a net natural gas exporting province.

As a major coal-producing region, Shanxi plans to achieve basic intelligentization of all coal mines in normal production by 2027, with more than 400 intelligent coal mines already built across the province.

Lu emphasized that Shanxi adheres to the goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, and is accelerating the development of low-carbon energy, green production and clean transportation.

Over the next five years, Shanxi will strive to increase unconventional natural gas reserves and production. By 2030, unconventional natural gas output is expected to reach 30 billion cu m, creating a 100 billion yuan ($14.7 billion) industrial chain.

"We need to make precise efforts in energy transformation, enhance energy supply security, promote the coal industry's upgrade from low-end to high-end, and shift coal products from primary fuels to high-value products," Lu said.

"Leveraging our non-coal mineral resources, agriculture, culture and tourism, as well as ecological assets, we will turn resource advantages into development advantages and promote industrial transformation in an orderly manner," he added.

Currently, Shanxi is further advancing industrial upgrading, optimizing traditional industries such as steel, coking, building materials and consumer goods, cultivating and strengthening emerging industries, and planning for future industries.

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Lu said Shanxi will focus on six key areas: building an important national energy and raw materials base; a base for specialized equipment and advanced manufacturing; a base for specialized and organic dryland agriculture; a hub for deep integration of cultural tourism; a key node in the Belt and Road Initiative business circle and a comprehensive transportation hub; and an ecological barrier in the middle reaches of the Yellow River and North China.

In recent years, popular domestic games such as Black Myth: Wukong have showcased Shanxi's profound historical and cultural heritage in a trendy and youthful way, injecting new vitality into the development of Shanxi's digital cultural industry.

Zhu Xiaodong, vice-governor of Shanxi, said the province has 531 nationally protected cultural relics, ranking first in the country. It is home to nearly 30,000 ancient buildings, including 518 wooden structures from the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and earlier, accounting for more than 80 percent of the national total.

Shanxi has built a comprehensive tourism network with three No 1 tourist highways with a total length of 13,000 kilometers, Zhu said.

"Entering the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will further explore our rich resources, deepen the integration of culture and tourism, and accelerate the transformation of resource advantages into development advantages in the cultural and tourism sector," he added.

Shanxi also needs to continuously build a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized first-class business environment, and provide strong support for high-quality development of the province, said vice-governor Jing Puqiu.