On March 16, 2023, the China National Coal Association convened a meeting in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, to discuss the development of a credit system for the coal industry in 2023. At the meeting, the “Analysis Report on the Credit Status of the Coal Industry (2022)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”) was released.

　　The report points out that, at present, the overall credit quality of the coal industry is trending positively. The organizational structure of the industry’s credit system has been basically established, the system of institutional standards is steadily improving, initial results from credit assessments are becoming evident, applications of credit in various scenarios are gradually expanding, and the overall credit environment continues to improve. In particular, several key industry characteristics—such as the continuous release of advanced production capacity, a growing balance between supply and demand, stable profitability, sustained high prices, accelerated smart technology development and green, low-carbon transformation, as well as strong overall competitiveness and innovation capabilities—are conducive to ensuring that the industry will continue to maintain relatively stable and excellent credit quality. According to the report, since 2008, the cumulative number of enterprises participating in industry credit ratings has reached 1,307. Among these, enterprises engaged in coal production, coal geological exploration, coal machinery manufacturing, and coal engineering construction accounted for 44.61%, 25.78%, 13.77%, and 11.02% respectively. The proportion of enterprises rated AAA reached 80.64%. The rated enterprises exhibit broad coverage, strong representativeness, significant influence, and advanced performance in key indicators, further enhancing the coal industry’s reputation and credibility.

　　The Report also points out that there are still many difficulties and challenges in building coal industry credit. The industry faces daunting tasks in ensuring a smooth transition of development resources, maintaining a secure supply, promoting green and low-carbon development, and achieving transformation and upgrading. Market players in the coal industry still lack a deep understanding of credit, particularly in areas such as institutional development, technological innovation, risk management, strategic implementation, talent assurance, safe production, customer management, corporate culture, credit organization building, and Party building—where risks remain relatively high. Overall, the application scenarios for credit within the industry remain limited, and both qualification management and credit evaluation need further improvements in quality.

　　The Report recommends that market players in the coal industry should further enhance their awareness of creditworthiness and comprehensively and multi-dimensionally advance the construction of a credit system from such aspects as education and publicity, institutional development, risk management, external cooperation, cultural development, and information management. They should actively strive to build modern, first-class, trustworthy coal enterprises that are unified and open, characterized by orderly competition, complete institutions, and sound governance.

　　This report is the first comprehensive credit evaluation and analysis report for the coal industry, jointly prepared by the China National Coal Association and relevant organizations. Relying on credit information data collected and shared through the Energy Industry Credit Information System, the report focuses on the results of credit evaluations involving more than 1,300 market entities in the coal industry. It conducts an analysis across five key areas: enterprises’ basic qualifications, operational capabilities, management levels, financial status, and social creditworthiness. The report reflects the achievements made in recent years in credit development among enterprises across the coal industry’s value chain—including coal production, equipment manufacturing, engineering construction, and geological exploration—and holds significant reference value for predicting and alerting to coal-related credit risks, supporting credit supervision and societal needs, fostering a market environment characterized by honesty and trustworthiness, comprehensively enhancing the management of coal industry credit, and facilitating the industry’s green, low-carbon transformation and high-quality development.