The Datong-Qinhuangdao railway, China's main railway for transporting coal, met its annual target of carrying 150 million tons of coal at 6 p.m. Dec., an official of the Ministry of Railways said Wednesday.

The 653-km Datong-Qinhuangdao railway, which begins in Datong in Shanxi Province, the country's leading coal production base, has a yearly designed capability of 100 million tons.

Shanxi's out-of-province sale and export of coal account for 70 percent and 50 percent of the country's total. Most of the coal transportation is carried by train.

Ministry statistics show that one out of every 16 tons of coal mined in China is transported by the Datong-Qinhuangdao railway. The railway links 178 coal transmission lines, 165 coal stations, and is responsible for transporting coal for the country's six power grids, 380 power plants and more than 6,000 factories and enterprises.

According to Liu Zhijun, minister of railways, the Datong-Qinhuangdao railway is expected to carry 200 million tons of coal in 2005.