Coal is unloaded from a vessel berthed at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, on Oct 14. (WANG JIANMIN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING - China reported higher output of raw coal in 2021 amid its efforts to ensure energy supply, official data showed.

Last year, the country's total output of raw coal increased by 4.7 percent year on year to 4.07 billion tonnes, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

In December alone, 380 million tonnes of raw coal was produced, up 7.2 percent year on year. The growth pace was 2.6 percentage points higher than the previous month.

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During the whole year, China had imported 320 million tonnes of coal, 6.6 percent higher than the previous year, the data showed.