HOHHOT - The coal output in China's largest coal producing region, Inner Mongolia, rose 26.6 percent year-on-year to 908 million tons in the first 11 months of the year.

The output in November was 94.1 million tons, up 18.1 percent year-on-year, the autonomous regional economy and information technology commission said in a statement Thursday.

The northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region had proven coal reserves of 741.4 billion tons, the largest nationwide, at the end of last year. It surpassed neighboring Shanxi province to become the largest coal producing region last year with an annual output of 782 million tons.

Shanxi's coal output reached 790 million tons in the Jan-Nov period, an annual increase of 18.6 percent, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

The November output rose 15.3 percent to hit a monthly record of 80.8 million tons due to a spike in the demand for the fossil fuel to power generators and provide heating in winter.

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