With the war in Iran choking global oil supplies, China is tapping its 390 billion tonnes of coal reserves to build its own energy source
7-MIN READ7-MINDannie Pengin XinjiangPublished: 6:00am, 22 May 2026As the war in Iran disrupts global oil and chemical supplies, China’s coal-heavy energy sector is seizing an unprecedented opportunity. Dannie Peng visited the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in northern Xinjiang – one of China’s four major bases for large-scale, modern coal-chemical production. In the second of a two-part series, she discovers how China is leveraging coal chemicals to offset oil shocks.It is late April, and northern Xinjiang is already gripped by scorching heat. Salt flats stretch to the horizon, barren and lifeless, until the monotony breaks at Wucaiwan – a boomtown in Changji Hui autonomous prefecture that has risen swiftly on the back of energy development.
This industrial forest of towering chimneys and intricate pipelines forms the heart of the Zhundong National Economic and Technological Development Zone, which sits atop estimated coal reserves of 390 billion tonnes – eclipsing the oil riches of the Persian Gulf in terms of weight.
The zone is also one of China’s four primary bases for modern, large-scale coal-chemical production.
For the better part of the past century, oil – nearly 60 per cent of which is concentrated in the Persian Gulf – has been the undisputed backbone of global industrial and economic development, particularly in the transport and petrochemical sectors.
