Over 60 pct of China's coal production capacity uses smart technology by end of 2025

More than 1,000 coal mines in China have adopted intelligent systems, as their application expands from pilot projects to large-scale deployment, the China National Coal Association said recently.

Statistics show that by the end of 2025, a total of 1,066 coal mines nationwide have introduced smart systems, with such technologies now supporting more than 65 percent of the country's coal production capacity. The number of autonomous mining trucks in operation surpassed 4,000 units, roughly doubling on an annual basis.

The rapid adoption of smart mining is driven by robust domestic capabilities in intelligent equipment and technology. In Beijing, a newly deployed underground Internet of Things (IoT) precision positioning and management system links workers, positioning cards and operating zones, while also enabling health monitoring. Its core technologies and components are fully domestically developed and have been applied in coal mines and coal preparation plants. "This underground positioning system we've developed has a positioning deviation of less than 20 centimeters when a person or device is stationary. Even when a person or device is moving at high speeds, the margin of error remains minimal. A single device can cover a radius of 800 meters," said Wu Fengdong, general manager of China Coal Beijing Coal Mining Machinery Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of the state-owned China National Coal Group Corporation.

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), cumulative investment in smart mining has exceeded 107.1 billion yuan (about 15.6 billion U.S. dollars), with intelligent technologies now widely applied, accelerating the shift from traditional mining to modern, technology-driven extraction.

Over 60 pct of China's coal production capacity uses smart technology by end of 2025

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in a social media post on Sunday that he had exchanged views with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the ongoing regional conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.

In the phone call, Araghchi noted that the United States and Israel have been attacking Iran's industrial infrastructure, hospitals, schools, residential areas, and nuclear facilities, emphasizing the need for urgent action by relevant international institutions, especially the International Atomic Energy Agency, to condemn these attacks and hold the aggressors accountable.

Araghchi also referred to the U.S. threats to attack Iranian energy facilities, saying this rhetoric is a clear admission of committing war crimes.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Sunday that the two ministers stressed that "reckless and illegal attacks" on Iran's civilian, industrial and energy facilities, including the Bushehr nuclear power plant, must be halted.

They warned that such actions pose a threat to the plant workers' lives and health and could lead to a radioactive disaster affecting the broader region.

The ministers spoke out against any actions that could undermine the remaining chances for promoting political and diplomatic efforts to settle the crisis.

Lavrov expressed the hope that efforts by certain countries to de-escalate the tensions around Iran would succeed, adding that the United States' abandoning the language of ultimatums and returning to negotiations would be instrumental.

Iran's FM discusses ongoing war with Russian counterpart over phone